Developer takes plea deal

Delray Beach-based developer Anthony Pugliese III is likely to spend at least six months behind bars under a plea deal that resolves longstanding fraud charges stemming from an aborted Florida building venture with a Subway restaurant chain co-founder.

Rather than stand trial beginning Sept. 11, Pugliese, 68, is to be sentenced Nov. 25, based on terms presented this week to Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley.

In the complicated case, Pugliese and his business manager, Joseph Reamer, 57, were accused of using fake companies and phony billings to steal more than $1 million from Subway’s Frederick DeLuca.

The criminal charges from 2012 concerned their partnership in an aborted, 41,000-acre, green community project south of Orlando. These allegations emerged about three years after Pugliese and DeLuca began suing each other for $5 billion in civil court, in cases still pending without a trial date.

An attorney for Pugliese told the Sun Sentinel on Thursday the developer decided to “accept a compromise” from prosecutors so his family would have peace of mind knowing he’ll be able to serve the sentence and come home for cancer treatments.

“It is with his family in mind that he has decided not to spend any more time, stress or hardship defending against the criminal charges,” Edgar Belaval Jr., litigation manager for Pugliese, said in a statement.

Rick Hutchison, DeLuca’s attorney from the firm