Vince Anello, the former Niagara Falls mayor, has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of making false statements in documents he filed with the pension fund of Local 237, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, according to sources at federal court.

Anello faces charges of public corruption and embezzling money from the workers’ pension fund.

Anello is expected to plead guilty Thursday before U. S. District Judge William M. Skretny, and sources close to the case said he likely would face some prison time.

As part of the deal, federal prosecutors are expected to drop a public corruption case, in which Anello is charged with illegally accepting a $40,000 no-interest loan from a prominent developer, Joseph “Smokin’ Joe” Anderson, the sources told The Buffalo News.

“A plea resolution is being discussed. That’s all I’m going to say right now,” Anello’s attorney, Joel L. Daniels, said Monday afternoon.

U. S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. had little to say on the case Monday.

“I’m not going to comment. There is a proceeding in the case that has

been scheduled by the judge on Thursday, and we’ll have something to say after that,” Hochul said.

Anello is expected to admit that he “knowingly and intentionally” made false statements on paperwork he filed with the Electrical Workers’ pension fund last year, according to a court document.

Anello submitted documents indicating that he worked seven hours in the week ending May 10, 2009, when, in fact, he worked about 31 hours, the court papers filed by prosecutor Marie P. Grisanti said.

At this point, Anello has two separate criminal cases pending against him in federal court.

In a case filed in 2008, he is accused of failing to provide “honest services” to Niagara Falls taxpayers. Prosecutors allege that he acted illegally when he accepted the $40,000 from Anderson prior to taking office as mayor in 2004.

Anello — without disclosing the money he had received from Anderson — then recommended that the city grant vending rights to Anderson for a downtown pedestrian mall, according to FBI agents.

Because of questions raised in U. S. Supreme Court about “honest services” prosecutions, Daniels and co-counsel Cheryl Meyers Buth have been trying for months to get the Andersonrelated charges dismissed.

The second case was filed in June. It alleges that Anello, who is a professional electrician, embezzled $94,000 from his union’s pension fund.

Prosecutors charged that pensioners from the union are allowed to work no more than 40 hours a month while collecting their pensions. But an investigation showed that Anello worked many hours more than that at companies owned by Anderson.

The FBI and U. S. Labor Department investigators said they found paperwork proving that Anello underreported the hours he worked while collecting his pension.

Anello was mayor from 2004 until the end of 2007 and before that had served on the City Council.

dherbeck@buffnews.comnull