Sayreville Strip Club Owner's Daughter Sues Middlesex Prosecutor, Saying She Was Unfairly Arrested

SAYREVILLE, NJ — The daughter of a family that owns a Sayreville strip club sued Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and the Sayreville Police Department, alleging she was unfairly arrested when the prosecutor investigated her family's strip club business three years ago.

The woman is Angela Mancini, 35, who lives with her husband and three young children in Colts Neck.

She filed her lawsuit Aug. 22 in federal court; her lawyer is Lara DiFabrizio, of Lyons and Associates law firm in Somerville.

In June of this year, Mancini's parents, Anthony Acciardi, Sr. and Doreen Acciardi, of Freehold Township, pleaded guilty to allowing prostitution to occur at the strip club they own, XXXV Club (Club 35) on Rt. 35 in Sayreville.

The New Jersey Attorney General has been investigating Club 35 since 2022. The state says the club allowed prostitution to occur there, and that dancers performed sexual acts for cash on patrons in back VIP rooms.

The Acciardis also admitted failing to pay a total of $705,000 in income tax on revenue generated from the club.

Also in June, Mancini's brothers, Anthony Acciardi Jr., of Old Bridge, and Stephen Acciardi, of Freehold Township, pleaded guilty to maintaining a house of prostitution. The two brothers owned and operated Acciboys, LLC, which owned ATMs in the nightclub.

Mancini was initially arrested alongside her parents and two brothers, but the county prosecutor later dropped all criminal charges against her. In her lawsuit, Mancini argues she is a victim of "malicious prosecution, unlawful arrest and deliberate misuse of prosecutorial and police powers."

She says the Middlesex County Prosecutor was only using her as a pawn to get her parents and brothers to plead guilty.

A spokeswoman said Prosecutor Ciccone will not be responding.

Mancini says at 7 a.m. June 14, 2022, heavily armed police officers entered her Colts Neck home to execute a search warrant. Mancini said officers handcuffed her in her pajamas while her three young children, ages 4, 3 and four months, watched, sobbing. Police ordered her to sit on the couch.

Mancini complied, and said she and her children cried as they sat on the couch, with police officers standing over them.

She said her four-year-old son tried to console his three-year-old sister, who was hysterically crying, and told her over and over: "Don't worry, the police won't shoot Mommy."

Mancini was then taken to the Middlesex County jail, where she shared a jail cell with her mother. During that time, her "depression and desperation were overwhelming" and she thought about ending her life, the lawsuit says.

She was charged with first-degree money laundering and second-degree conspiracy. Middlesex County prosecutors also threatened her with additional charges unless her family members accepted plea deals, said her lawyer.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Ciccone later dropped all charges against Mancini and they were expunged from her record in 2023.

Her lawyer argues the charges were "baseless."

Mancini said while her two brothers worked at the club, she only worked at the club for a few months after college in 2011, when she briefly worked at the register. She also said she agreed to help her brother "very part time" operate the five ATM machines he had placed in the club. She said it was her job to fill the ATM machines with money, and that her brother paid her $1,000 for the work.

Mancini argues the Middlesex County Prosecutor and Sayreville Police violated her Constitutional rights, and she is demanding a civil trial.

She is a licensed professional counselor, and she owns La Luna Counseling and Wellness, with locations in Middletown, Holmdel and Manasquan. She said her arrest and time in jail caused her to lose clients from her counseling business, and that five therapists who worked for her quit.

Because of her arrest, and the arrests of her family members, Macini said her name was "publicly dragged through the mud in the papers and social media ... The only crime committed by Ms. Mancini was being the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. (Anthony and Doreen) Acciardi and sister of Stephen and Anthony Acciardi Jr.," read her lawsuit.

As part of the Acciardis' guilty pleas, Club 35 must be monitored by the state of New Jersey for five years, until Jan. 1, 2030.

Previous coverage on Club 35 in Sayreville:

• NJ Couple Ran ‘House Of Prostitution’ At Sayreville Strip Club, NJ Attorney General Says (June 2025)
• Family That Owns Sayreville Strip Club Charged With Money Laundering
• More Prostitution Charges Filed Against Sayreville Strip Club Owners
• Wife Of Strip Club Owner Cuffed, 'Humiliated' During His Arrest: Suit
• Shuttered Strip Club Owners Plan To Sue Sayreville