He also wanted the hit man to torture or threaten the uncle to obtain information Spyropoulos intended to use to steal a large sum of cash he believed his uncle possessed. Spyropoulos wanted to increase his own role in the ownership and management of the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton. The state’s investigation revealed that Spyropoulos resented the extent to which the uncle controlled and profited from the two family-owned diners. In early 2013, Spyropoulos attempted to hire a hit man to kill his uncle by marriage, Alexandro Sgourdos, who manages the Tick Tock Diner in Manhattan, N.Y., and is a co-owner of that diner as well as the diner on Route 3 in Clifton. Deputy Attorneys General Yfantis and Taggart presented the case to the state grand jury. Detectives from the New Jersey State Police Violent & Organized Crime North Bureau arrested Spyropoulos on April 9, 2013. The investigation was led by State Police Detective Sergeant Peter Layng of the Drug Trafficking North Unit. I am proud of the great work by our detectives and those involved with the prosecution.” “Spyropoulos wanted a family member tortured and ultimately killed, and he went to great lengths to make that happen.
“This was an intricate plot driven by greed and jealousy,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “Law enforcement did him a favor by uncovering his plot, but he deserves no break when it comes to paying the price for this serious crime.” “This guilty plea ensures that Spyropoulos will have a long time behind bars to think about the tragedy that might have resulted from his conduct,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Had they not intervened, this murder plot appears likely to have been carried out, because Spyropoulos did everything in his power to set it in motion, including delivering a gun and a down payment to the man he hired to kill his uncle.” “Thanks to the New Jersey State Police, we have a guilty nephew going to prison, instead of an uncle in a shallow grave,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. He further admitted that he asked the hit man – who turned out to be an undercover detective for the New Jersey State Police – to threaten the uncle first in order to obtain information that Spyropoulos intended to use to rob his uncle of a large sum of money he believed his uncle possessed.
In pleading guilty, Spyropoulos admitted that he hired a hit man to kill his uncle. Supervising Deputy Attorney General Lauren Scarpa Yfantis, Chief of the Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Annmarie Taggart, Deputy Bureau Chief, took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice. Judge Volkert scheduled sentencing for Spyropoulos for Sept. Spyropoulos signed a consent order today that prohibits him from ever having any contact with the victim, the victim’s family or any of the family’s businesses in the future. In addition, he faces up to five years of supervised release. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that he be sentenced to 10 years in state prison, of which he must serve 85 percent without possibility of parole under the No Early Release Act. Georgios Spyropoulos, 46, of Clifton, pleaded guilty this afternoon to a first-degree charge of conspiracy to commit murder before Superior Court Judge Donald J.