The owners of a New Jersey gym who kept their doors open during a COVID-19 lockdown mandate are calling their sentence an “absolute joke,” and one of them is now running for office.
Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti, co-owners of Atilis Gym, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal contempt, which carries a maximum punishment of a $10,000 fine and 18 months in prison. The men were sentenced to a year of probation.
"Being sentenced to probation for taking the doors off of our own building, while criminals are being let go is an absolute joke," Atilis Gym co-owner Frank Trumbetti told Fox Business Sunday.
Atilis Gym offered free memberships to people who refused the COVID-19 vaccine, and now Smith has announced he’ll be running to unseat Rep. Andy Kim (D) and represent New Jersey’s 3rd District in Washington.
This Thursday 2/3 I’ll be formally announcing my campaign for Congress in NJ CD-3 against @AndyKimNJ. I am truly excited to have the possibility to serve the people of NJ with a platform focused on liberty, small government, and America First policies. https://t.co/B4SoD9fDDH
— Ian Smith (@iansmithfitness) January 30, 2022
Smith contends there aren’t enough “good people” in Washington.
“I am truly excited to have the possibility to serve the people of NJ with a platform focused on liberty, small government, and America First policies,” he tweeted, without offering further specifics. He will make an official announcement on Thursday, he said.
Smith was temporarily banned from American Airlines back in March for refusing to wear a mask on a flight to New Jersey after he gave a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.
In 2007 Smith was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for vehicular homicide after he killed a 19-year-old while drunk driving.
