Rod Anderson’s got a big stake in the outcome of his Hereford House trial
For more than two decades, tall and jovial Rod Anderson was the very public face — in print ads, on the radio, on TV — of the iconic Hereford House restaurants. And for years, most diners assumed that the 59-year-old former accountant was, if not their sole owner, a major shareholder. But at the time that the downtown Hereford House went up in flames, Anderson’s stake in the venture was just 2 percent.
Anderson’s role in the Hereford House and that fire are set to be unraveled this week as he and two accused co-conspirators, Vincent Pisciotta and Mark A. Sorrentino, stand trial in courtoom 8-D of the Charles Evans Whittaker U.S. Courthouse. Each man is charged with four counts of felony fraud, conspiracy and arson. The prosecution alleges that the men planned and executed the arson that destroyed the original Hereford House restaurant, at 2 East 20th Street, in the early morning hours of October 20, 2008.
