BUFFALO — Former Niagara Falls Mayor Vince Anello stood in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on Thursday and answered Chief District Court Judge William Skretny’s question in a clear and firm voice.

“How do you plead (to charges of filing false documents with a union pension fund)?” the judge asked.

“Guilty,” Anello replied.

That plea, which is conditioned on Skretny’s acceptance of a prison term for Anello of between 10 and 16 months, brings to an end a saga that began five years ago with the discovery that Anello had taken loans, totaling $40,000, from Tuscarora businessman and developer Joseph “Smokin Joe” Anderson and failed to disclose them before giving Anderson a no-bid lease for the city’s East Pedestrian Mall.

Yet, the former mayor’s guilty plea came not to the public corruption charges he faced in a 2008 grand jury indictment, but to a single count from a criminal complaint filed in June that accused him of illegally “double-dipping” into the pension fund of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 237.

“The government came to us and made an offer that was very hard to refuse,” defense attorney Joel Daniels explained.

In return for Anello’s plea to a count in the pension fraud case, government prosecutors agreed they will dismiss, when the former mayor is actually sentenced, the indictment in the public corruption case.

Anello had faced single felony counts of conspiracy, obstruction and two counts of scheme to deprive of honest services in that case. Those charges stemmed from his dealings with Anderson and three loans that Anello received from him.

Prosecutors had claimed that the loans Anello received deprived “the city of the intangible right of the honest services of a public official” because he took the loans while Anderson was doing business with the city and failed to disclose the loans as required by the city’s Ethics Law.

However, United States Attorney William Hochul said a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that modified how prosecutors can use the honest services statute changed the approach to the Anello case.

“There’s no doubt (the Supreme Court ruling) altered the law,” Hochul said. “(The honest services law) now applies only to bribes or kickbacks.”

Hochul said prosecutors would have had to prove there was a quid pro quo between Anello and Anderson, that the mayor took the loans and agreed to give the Tuscarora businessman favored treatment in dealing with the city.

“Instead of having that uncertainty,” Hochul said, “We now have the certainty of a felony conviction and a prison sentence.”

In a 13-page plea agreement, signed by prosecutors and Anello, the former mayor admits taking the loans from Anderson, not publicly disclosing the loans and recommending the East Mall Lease for him. Anello does not, however, admit that the lease recommendation was influenced by Anderson’s loans.

“We already said, from the get-go, that Vince never agreed to anything, there was no wink and a nod, no secret handshake to give anything to (Anderson),” Daniels said. “But the union case would have been a tough fight for us.”

Assistant United States Attorney Marie Grisanti told Skretny that prosecutors were prepared to produce documents, including invoices for work and reports to the union pension fund, that showed Anello was working “far in excess” of 40 hours a month. As a union retiree, the former mayor was limited to working no more than 40 hours a month in order to continue receiving his pension payments.

The plea agreement indicates that Anello “wrongfully received” more than $70,000 in pension benefits. As part of his plea deal, Anello agreed to repay up to $120,000 to the union pension fund.

“If you’re a public official, you owe the duty of honest services,” Hochul said. “(Anello) lied to his pension fund and for that he was convicted. We feel it is an appropriate resolution to this case.”

Assistant United States Attorney Paul Campana, who handled the public corruption case, said the plea deal made sense.

“Given the admissions and the willingness of Mr. Anello to serve a prison sentence, it serves the interests of justice,” Campana said.

Skretny scheduled sentencing for Dec. 20. Should the judge decided they he wants to sentence Anello to more than 10 to 16 months behind bars, the former mayor could withdraw his guilty plea.

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it,” Daniels said.

Anello stood next to his lawyers as they answered reporters’ questions but said nothing,

“I’d rather Vince didn’t say anything at this time,” Daniels said.