NJ Gym Owner Who Tried to Keep The Gym Open During the Pandemic Arrested on DWI Charges

The last time Ian Andrew Smith was busted driving drunk, he spent time in prison on vehicular manslaughter charges, and he is currently on probation of the gym opening stunt. He’s toast.

CINNAMINSON, NJ – Ian Smith, the co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, NJ who refused to shut down his facility in the beginning days of the pandemic despite court orders and became a darling of the right that included local hate groups, was arrested on Sunday on drunk driving charges. He had served time in jail after a fatal drunk driving accident in 2007 that cost the life of a 19-year-old Galloway Township man.

According to NJ.com, Smith was on Route 130 north and Andover Road at about 12:25 a.m. when he was stopped. He was charged with driving under the influence and refusing to take a breath test, as well as four related charges: reckless driving, careless driving, failure to observe marked traffic lanes and delaying traffic. As the state of New Jersey abide by a statue called “John’s Law”, which authorizes police to hold cars for up to 12 hours after a DWI, he was released to a responsible sober party.

Smith and his business partner Frank Trumbetti gained national headlines in 2020 when they kept their gym open in defiance of the state lockdown order. Several rallies were held in the parking lot of the gym’s strip mall that brought out many of their supporters on the far right, including neo-Nazi Paul Miller of the Boogaloo Movement, who is currently in federal prison on weapons charges and members of the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA), who even provided a megaphone that Smith used during one rally. Smith is currently running for the 3^rd Congressional District seat currently being held by Democrat Andy Kim, but it remains to be seen if his current legal entanglements will prevent that run to go much further. In January, Smith was sentenced to a year of probation on the contempt of court charge stemming from him violating the court order to keep his gym closed. The latest DWI charge will most certainly cause prosecutors to recall his 2007 vehicular manslaughter conviction as a college student where after drinking 10 to 12 beers the night before, got behind the wheel of a car at approximately 8:30 in the morning, drove through several stop signs and eventually hit a car driven by Kevin Ade, killing him. Smith eventually plead guilty and served a considerably light sentence of five years in prison.

When the manslaughter conviction came to light in 2020, Smith appeared to show remorse, saying in a statement, “My actions caused the death of a young man and broke the hearts of an entire community, and that’s something they’ll never ever fully recover from. There’s nothing I can do except try to live a good life and give back and promote as much love and positivity in the world as I can.”

Ade’s uncle Robert Henchy were not convinced given how with his intent to keep his gym open during the beginning months of the pandemic, he was attempting to once again flout the law and put lives in danger. “He drove drunk, killed somebody, gets probably one of the lightest sentences I’ve ever seen, and now 13 years later, you’re out defying the law once again,” Henchy said. I just don’t get it. He already killed somebody and now he’s going to put other people’s lives in jeopardy by opening the gym.”

Smith due to be in Cinnaminson Municipal Court on April 14.