Imprisoned Montville man fights forfeiture of townhouse

   MORRISTOWN - A Superior Court judge will be asked Friday to decide whether the Morris County Prosecutor's Office is entitled to $172,494, one-third of the assessed value of a Montville townhouse where a man admittedly held his girlfriend against her will and possessed child pornography and crystal methamphetamine.

Judge Robert Brennan is slated to hear arguments for and against partial forfeiture of the Eugene Drive townhouse -- one-third of the $518,000 assessed value of the property owned by Christopher Conzola. Defense lawyer Anthony Macri is opposing the move by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, and said in court papers that the sum sought is a violation of the Excessive Fines Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the home itself was irrelevant to Conzola's crimes.

Conzola, now 39, was sentenced in Superior Court, Morristown, in December to six years in prison on the guilty pleas he entered in October to criminal restraint, endangering the welfare of a child by possessing child pornography, and possession of methamphetamine. In part, Conzola was accused of twice restraining his girlfriend in 2015 and booby-trapping the stairwell so she couldn't leave.

"The state contends that (Conzola) utilized a portion of the premises, the first floor living quarters, for the criminal activities," Macri wrote in opposition to the forfeiture. "However, the criminal activities, which were criminal restraint, child endangerment and possession of a controlled dangerous substance do not require that this particular house, 48 Eugene Avenue, nor any particular house, for the completion of these unlawful activities."

Shortly after Conzola's arrest last year, the Prosecutor's Office filed a forfeiture lawsuit to take possession of the townhouse. The state's forfeiture statute permits law enforcement to file suit to take possession of property used in the furtherance of a crime or derived from the proceeds of a crime but Macri contends the statute is being misapplied because any structure -- not the townhouse in particular -- could have been the setting for Conzola's crimes.

Over the past two decades, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office has rarely sought forfeiture of a home -- in this case partial forfeiture -- but frequently has targeted for forfeiture vehicles and cash seized in the course of investigations. Between 1998 and 1999, when admitted brothel owner Judith "Kelly" Dempsey was being prosecuted in Morris County for operating a house of prostitution out of her 20-room mansion in Morris Township, she agreed to sell the house and turn over $72,010 of the proceeds to the Prosecutor's Office to avoid potential forfeiture.

Macri wrote that the state is not entitled to any portion of the property because it cannot show the home was "an instrumentality of the offense."

   SEE ALSO: Suit: State wants Montville home where woman was restrained http://dailyre.co/1JKYnz3

Conzola was first charged in March 2015 by Montville police with criminal restraint and possession of crystal methamphetamine. Police went to the home in response to a 911 call and were met by Conzola, who stated all was well and that he didn’t want to talk to police, according to court records.

A woman, identified only as M.Y.P. in records, came to the door and police observed Conzola restraining her by the arm to prevent her from leaving his side. She was able to remove herself from his grip and later went to police headquarters, where police observed multiple bruises on her arms and legs, court records said.

The woman, who was living then with Conzola as his girlfriend, spoke in Mandarin to an Asian officer and said she wanted to leave the home but Conzola wouldn’t let her. She claimed that Conzola stayed with her in the basement to block her departure, and pushed her into a table while taking her phone away, court records said.

Conzola later told police in an interview that he kept the woman in the first-floor living quarters for an extended period of time against her will and set traps on the stairwell to alert him if she tried to leave, court records said. Conzola was able to post $20,000 bail and returned to the townhouse. The woman also remained at the home or returned there in the next few weeks. In April 2015, police again responded to Conzola’s home in response to a 911 call and officers had to force their way in and rescue the woman.

   Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.