<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The former top aide to New Jersey&rsquo;s Senate president pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to wire fraud and tax evasion charges stemming from political consulting work he did over a five-year period ending in .</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Tony Teixeira, , admitted that from - he worked with Sean Caddle &mdash; who made headlines this year when he admitted to engineering the murder of another political operative &mdash; to inflate invoices for political consulting work the pair did.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">There&rsquo;s no connection to the murder-for-hire plot, Teixeira&rsquo;s attorney said after the proceedings, and that scheme did not come up in the courtroom at all.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">&ldquo;All I&rsquo;m going to say is, Tony Teixeira made a mistake getting involved with Sean Caddle,&rdquo; John Lynch said.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The scheme, according to prosecutors in court on Monday, resulted in Teixeira making some $, and failing to pay more than $, in federal taxes.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The wire fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of up to years, while tax evasion could lead to up to five years in prison. He&rsquo;s also facing a fine of up to $,, plus restitution</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Teixeira was a long-time aide to Democratic Senate President Nicholas Scutari, who said last month that he had accepted Teixeira&rsquo;s resignation pending the tax charges.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">&ldquo;He has served the public in many admirable capacities and is a friend, nonetheless he erred and I acknowledge that,&rdquo; Scutari, said in an emailed statement.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Scutari became the Senate president in November after former Senate President Steve Sweeney&rsquo;s unexpected loss in last year&rsquo;s election.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Teixeira also served as the chair of the Democratic Party in Elizabeth. It&rsquo;s unclear whether he remains in that post.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Exactly which campaigns Caddle and Teixeira worked on wasn&rsquo;t specified during the hearing Monday.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Lynch said the case against Teixeira appeared to have been uncovered as part of prosecutors&rsquo; case against Caddle, who has not yet been sentenced after pleading guilty in January.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Caddle worked as a political consultant in northern New Jersey and had the son of a former state senator killed by two hired men, who fatally stabbed the victim in and set fire to his apartment, according to the U.S. attorney&rsquo;s office.</p>