Galante reaches plea deal on trash racket

Connecticut trash czar James Galante (right) faces between six and seven years in prison when sentenced for racketeering and other offenses in federal court on Aug. 22, according to a story by Dave Altimari of the Hartford Courant.

As part of a plea deal, Galante, 55, admitted earlier this month to one count of racketeering conspiracy, one count of conspiring to defraud the IRS and one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. Those crimes stemmed from attempting to fix bids on a garbage transfer station project, coaching witnesses in advance of appearances before a grand jury, arranging payroll kickbacks and improper business expenses, and setting up no-show jobs.

Galante was one of 33 people named in a 98-count indictment back in 2006. Initially he was also charged with making regular payments to Genovese Crime Family bigshot Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello. There was no mention of those payments in the recent plea deal. Ianniello reached an earlier plea arrangement, admitting to racketeering conspiracy and tax evasion.

In addition to the expected jail time of between 70 and 87 months, Galante has agreed to a number of forfeitures and to withdrawal from the trash industry. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he will surrender all of his interests in 25 trash hauling companies in western Connecticut and nearby New York State, he will turn over a Southbury residence and land, six racing cars and a trailer, and he will drop any claim on $448,153.10 and interest on that money, which was seized from his business office and home. He owes an estimated $1.6 million in back taxes to the IRS. At sentencing, he could be fined additional money, up to a total of $750,000.

The Courant reported that federal authorities eventually will return to Galante and his wife $10.75 million they loaned to the trash businesses. That payment is to be made after the companies, estimated to be worth $100 million, are sold.

Investigation of the waste hauling "property rights" racket in western Connecticut led to charges against Connecticut State Senator Louis DeLuca. DeLuca, who admitted to seeking Galante's aid to threaten the husband of DeLuca's granddaughter, later resigned from the state legislature.

CT legislator resigns over mob link

Connecticut State Senator Louis DeLuca (above) resigned from the legislature yesterday, just hours before a Senate panel was to acquire subpoena power in its investigation of DeLuca's relationship with an indicted trash hauler, according to a story by Mark Pazniokas and Christopher Keating of the Hartford Courant.

The panel sought subpoena power in order to acquire FBI surveillance tapes of a meeting between DeLuca, 74, and an undercover agent posing as an associate of western Connecticut trash czar James Galante. Galante has been charged with overseeing a monopolistic property rights scheme in the hauling industry. He maintains his innocence.

The undercover agent failed in an attempt to bribe DeLuca, but reportedly won his agreement to protect Galante's interests in the legislature. DeLuca has insisted that he agreed with the request in order to end the meeting.

DeLuca received the FBI tapes of the conversations as he reached a plea bargain with federal investigators. He refused to turn them over to the state.

A Republican from the town of Woodbury, DeLuca served in the state senate for 17 years. He pleaded guilty in June to asking Galante to threaten his granddaughter's husband, Mark Colella. DeLuca said he believed Colella was abusing his granddaughter. Colella has denied the charge.

DeLuca panel seeks FBI tapes

A Connecticut Senate subcommittee looking into allegations of impropriety against State Senator Louis DeLuca voted this week to seek subpoena power to obtain FBI tapes now in DeLuca's possession, according to a story by Christopher Keating of the Hartford Courant.

The subcommittee decided that DeLuca (right) "brought dishonor on his office and the institution of the state Senate" but refused to make a recommendation to the full Senate until it could listen to the full tapes of DeLuca's Sept 5 and Sept 7, 2006, conversations with an FBI agent posing as an associate of Danbury-area trash hauler James Galante. Excerpts from the tapes were transcribed into an arrest warrant affidavit. The U.S. Attorneys office gave copies of the full tapes to DeLuca's attorney. The state senator pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of conspiring with Galante to threaten DeLuca's granddaughter's husband. (See related story.)

One of the excerpts suggests that DeLuca would be willing to do favors in the legislature for Galante. DeLuca's attorney has pointed out that other statements on the tapes portray DeLuca in a more favorable light. The tapes reportedly show that DeLuca immediately turned down an offered bribe from the undercover agent. However, DeLuca stated last month that he would not turn over copies of the tapes.

"The recordings are not publicly available information and will not be disclosed," he said.

Galante has been indicted in connection with a property rights racket in the western Connecticut waste hauling industry. Federal prosecutors say he supervised a non-competitive affiliation on hauling companies that sent regular payments to a New York Mafia family. Galante says he is innocent of the charges.

The six-member subcommittee investigating DeLuca can recommend expulsion, censure, reprimand or no action.

CT panel mulls DeLuca's future

A six-member bipartisan committee of the Connecticut State Senate is considering what action should be taken with regard to State Senator Louis C. DeLuca's (left) admitted link to organized crime, according to a story by Christine Stuart of the New York Times.

DeLuca pleaded guilty June 4 to a misdemeanor charge of threatening and acknowledged asking a Danbury-area trash hauler with reputed ties to the Mafia to threaten his granddaughter's husband in April 2005. Through a plea deal, federal agents dropped their investigation of the legislator. DeLuca claims his granddaughter was a victim of domestic violence. DeLuca also asserts that he repeatedly informed Waterbury Police Chief Neil O'Leary of his granddaughter's plight but received no help. Chief O'Leary insists that DeLuca never mentioned the abusive relationship.

The granddaughter's husband, Mark Colella (right), has denied the allegations of abuse, according to a Sept. 10 story by Paul Hughes of the Waterbury Republican American newspaper. He insists that DeLuca disapproved of the granddaughter's marriage and approached organized crime to have him eliminated. Colella also charged that DeLuca was prepared to his influence as state senate's Republican leader to pay back the favor.

As it looks into DeLuca's relationship with a reputed underworld figure, the senate committee is mulling four options for DeLuca's future: expulsion, censure, reprimand or no action. DeLuca has stepped down from his leadership of Senate Republicans but has dismissed suggestions that he should resign from his legislative position. DeLuca has served in the senate since 1990 and is a ranking member of the Banks, Executive Nominations, Insurance and Real Estate, and Legislative Management committees. He is also a director of the Connecticut General Assembly's Italian-American Legislative Caucus.

When questioned by the committee on Oct. 15, DeLuca refused to answer questions under oath. The committee took hours of unsworn testimony and then asked DeLuca to review a transcript and submit written verification or correction for his answers. DeLuca reportedly submitted an affidavit with some corrections.

The committee is probing DeLuca's relationship with trash hauler James Galante, who is awaiting federal trial. Galante was one of 29 people named in a 117-count federal indictment related to the monopolistic waste disposal industry in western Connecticut. He is accused of running a "property rights scheme" and of making large payments to Genovese Crime Family bigshot Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello (left). Many of his codefendants, including Ianniello, have already reached plea deals with prosecutors.

According to the Republican American, "federal investigators determined that DeLuca and Galante (right) had a close and confidential relationship." A heavily redacted FBI report implied a greater connection between the two men than that described by DeLuca.

When DeLuca reached out for help from Galante, the legislator did not realize that federal agents were nearing the end of an investigation of the trash hauler. The April 2005 meeting between the two men came to the attention of investigators. An undercover agent posing as a Galante associate was sent to meet with DeLuca on Sept. 5 and 6, 2006, three months after Galante had been indicted. During the meetings, DeLuca reportedly pledged political assistance to Galante but rejected a $5,000 bribe offer.

DeLuca has stated that his promise of assistance was merely an effort to placate a frightening visitor.

Horse gets two years in trash case

U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns today sentenced Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello to two years in prison for racketeering conspiracy and income tax evasion, according to an Associated Press story. Ianniello learned of the penalty in New Haven, CT, federal court.

Ianniello (left), 86, was also ordered to pay a $6,000 fine and more than $250,000 in back taxes. The prison sentence will run concurrent with an 18-month term imposed by a court in New York after Ianniello pleaded guilty of wrongdoing in connection with a bus drivers' union.

As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, the reputed Genovese Crime Family bigshot pleaded guilty to participation in a monopolistic property rights scheme in the waste hauling industry in western Connecticut and nearby New York. Prosecutors claimed that waste haulers paid a regular "mob tax" to Ianniello in exchange for Genovese support for the property rights arrangements.

The plea deal allowed for a maximum sentence of two and a half years behind bars. Judge Burns said she lessened the sentence due to Ianniello's poor health.

Ianniello is a decorated veteran of World War II. Law enforcement agencies believe he became an acting boss of the Genovese family after the successful prosecution of Vincent "Vinny the Chin" Gigante (above right).

Related MobNews posts:

• Ianniello asks for leniency 05-02-07
• Ianniello sentenced to 18 months in prison 04-23-07
• Another trash company manager pleads guilty 03-28-07
• Trash co. manager pleads guilty to scheme 03-23-07
• 'No-show' trash company workers sentenced 03-17-07
• Text of Ianniello plea agreement 12-21-06
• Ianiello pleads guilty to trash racketeering 12-20-06
• School bus union boss charged with racketeering 11-21-2006
• NYC schoolbus drivers want mob out of union 11-09-2006
• Galante employee admits hockey-trash link 11-02-2006
• CT mulls waste hauling regulation 09-24-06
• 'Matty the Horse' pleads guilty to racketeering 09-15-06
• Feds: Galante diverted millions 08-10-06
• Galante waste companies could be sold 07-17-06
• Trash racket defendants want court delay 07-12-06
• Indicted garbage co. tries to hold onto contracts 07-10-06
• Strict conditions set for Galante release 07-01-06
• Trash king Galante to stay in jail for now 06-28-06
• Feds run CT waste biz 06-13-06
• Indicted hauler's hockey team suspends operations 06-13-06
• 29 charged in CT-NY trash hauling rackets 06-10-06
• Garbage 'property rights' 04-28-06

Another trash company manager pleads guilty

Ciro Viento, 44, of Mahopac NY pleaded guilty March 26 in New Haven CT federal court to one count of conspiring to violate the RICO anti-racketeering act, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Viento was reportedly an operations manager for Connecticut-based Automated Waste Disposal, Inc., and affiliated companies.

Viento acknowledged conspiring with others in a monopolistic property rights scheme in the waste hauling industry in which carting companies worked assigned territories and did not compete.

Federal wiretaps revealed Viento conspiring with other haulers to set hauling rates and enforce territorial boundaries through threats (Viento allegedly promised one contractor "a world of hurt" if he did not surrender an account) and secret negotiations.

At sentencing scheduled for June 14, Viento faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Viento already has agreed to forfeit $20,000 to the government.

An investigation of AWD and affiliated companies resulted in indictments against 29 individuals and seven companies. The defendants in the case have included Genovese Crime Family bigshot Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, who pleaded guilty in December, and AWD executive James Galante, who maintains his innocence. On March 21, another AWD operations manager, Richard Caccavale, 48, of Stormville NY, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Related MobNews posts:

• Trash co. manager pleads guilty to scheme 03-23-07
• 'No-show' trash company workers sentenced 03-17-07
• Text of Ianniello plea agreement 12-21-06
• Ianiello pleads guilty to trash racketeering 12-20-06
• School bus union boss charged with racketeering 11-21-2006
• NYC schoolbus drivers want mob out of union 11-09-2006
• Galante employee admits hockey-trash link 11-02-2006
• CT mulls waste hauling regulation 09-24-06
• 'Matty the Horse' pleads guilty to racketeering 09-15-06
• Feds: Galante diverted millions 08-10-06
• Galante waste companies could be sold 07-17-06
• Trash racket defendants want court delay 07-12-06
• Indicted garbage co. tries to hold onto contracts 07-10-06
• Strict conditions set for Galante release 07-01-06
• Trash king Galante to stay in jail for now 06-28-06
• Feds run CT waste biz 06-13-06
• Indicted hauler's hockey team suspends operations 06-13-06
• 29 charged in CT-NY trash hauling rackets 06-10-06
• Garbage 'property rights' 04-28-06
• Guilty hauler 04-28-06

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Trash co. manager pleads guilty to scheme

Richard Caccavale, 48, of Stormville NY, pleaded guilty in New Haven CT federal court March 21 to a single count of conspiring to violate the RICO Act through a property rights racket in the waste hauling industry, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Caccavale was operations manager for Connecticut-based Automated Waste Disposal (AWD) and affiliated companies. Federal investigators intercepted telephone calls in which Caccavale reportedly attempted to intimidate trash carters into joining the monopolistic property rights scheme. In his guilty plea, Caccavale acknowledged that a trash hauler's truck was damaged because it would not go along with the rules of the racket.

Caccavale is to be sentenced on June 8. He faces a maximum term of 20 years and a possible fine of $250,000. He has agreed to forfeit $20,000 to the government.

Caccavale was one of a number of individuals and businesses indicted in connection with the property rights scheme last June. Prosecutors charge that the businesses agreed on service territories and made regular payments to New York-based organized crime.

Related MobNews posts:

• 'No-show' trash company workers sentenced 03-17-07
• Text of Ianniello plea agreement 12-21-06
• Ianiello pleads guilty to trash racketeering 12-20-06
• School bus union boss charged with racketeering 11-21-2006
• NYC schoolbus drivers want mob out of union 11-09-2006
• Galante employee admits hockey-trash link 11-02-2006
• CT mulls waste hauling regulation 09-24-06
• 'Matty the Horse' pleads guilty to racketeering 09-15-06
• Feds: Galante diverted millions 08-10-06
• Galante waste companies could be sold 07-17-06
• Trash racket defendants want court delay 07-12-06
• Indicted garbage co. tries to hold onto contracts 07-10-06
• Strict conditions set for Galante release 07-01-06
• Trash king Galante to stay in jail for now 06-28-06
• Feds run CT waste biz 06-13-06
• Indicted hauler's hockey team suspends operations 06-13-06
• 29 charged in CT-NY trash hauling rackets 06-10-06
• Garbage 'property rights' 04-28-06
• Guilty hauler 04-28-06

'No-show' trash company workers sentenced

Carmine Dominicus, 43, of 7 Bragdon Ave., Danbury, CT, was sentenced March 14 to six months of home confinement and two years of probation for conspiring to defraud the IRS through a no-show job with Automated Waste Disposal (AWD) of Danbury, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney of the District of Connecticut. He was also fined $40,000.

In June 2006, Dominicus was named along with 28 other people and 10 businesses, including AWD, in a racketeeering indictment. He pleaded guilty to a single count in the indictment, acknowledging that he received employee compensation, health insurance benefits and the use of a company vehicle from January 2000 to July 2005 though he provided no employee services to AWD.

Last month, Anna Priskie, 45, of Deerfield Lane, Cortland Manor, NY, received an identical sentence. She also pleaded guilty to holding a no-show job with AWD.

Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, bigshot in the Genovese Crime Family, was named in the original indictment, as was western Connecticut trash hauling czar James Galante of New Fairfield, CT. They were charged with leading a "property rights" racket in the waste hauling industry. Through that racket, company territories would be secured, eliminating competition and allowing higher prices to be charged to customers.

Ianniello pleaded guilty to racketeering in December. Galante maintains his innocence.

Related MobNews posts:

• Text of Ianniello plea agreement 12-21-06
• Ianiello pleads guilty to trash racketeering 12-20-06
• School bus union boss charged with racketeering 11-21-2006
• NYC schoolbus drivers want mob out of union 11-09-2006
• Galante employee admits hockey-trash link 11-02-2006
• CT mulls waste hauling regulation 09-24-06
• 'Matty the Horse' pleads guilty to racketeering 09-15-06
• Feds: Galante diverted millions 08-10-06
• Galante waste companies could be sold 07-17-06
• Trash racket defendants want court delay 07-12-06
• Indicted garbage co. tries to hold onto contracts 07-10-06
• Strict conditions set for Galante release 07-01-06
• Trash king Galante to stay in jail for now 06-28-06
• Feds run CT waste biz 06-13-06
• Indicted hauler's hockey team suspends operations 06-13-06
• 29 charged in CT-NY trash hauling rackets 06-10-06
• Garbage 'property rights' 04-28-06
• Guilty hauler 04-28-06

Text of Ianniello plea agreement

The News-Times of Danbury CT is providing a web link to the plea agreement between Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. ( Click here to access the document. ) Yesterday, Ianniello pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and conspiring to defraud the IRS in connection with a property rights racket in the Connecticut waste hauling industry.

Under the agreement, Ianniello agreed to pay $277,970.90 in taxes and penalties and to forfeit $130,680 seized by the FBI and the IRS during a search of his Old Westbury NY home in July. He also faces a maximum penalty of 24 to 30 months in prison and a possible additional fine when sentenced March 9. The prison term might run concurrently with the up to two years he could be sentenced in connection with a labor racketeering conviction from September.

Related MobNews items:
Ianniello pleads guilty to trash racketeering 12-20-2006
School bus union boss charged with racketeering 11-21-2006
NYC schoolbus drivers want mob out of union 11-09-2006
Galante employee admits hockey-trash link 11-02-2006
CT mulls waste hauling regulation 09-24-06
'Matty the Horse' pleads guilty to racketeering 09-15-06
Feds: Galante diverted millions 08-10-06
Galante waste companies could be sold 07-17-06
Trash racket defendants want court delay 07-12-06
Indicted garbage co. tries to hold onto contracts 07-10-06
Strict conditions set for Galante release 07-01-06
Trash king Galante to stay in jail for now 06-28-06
Feds run CT waste biz 06-13-06
Indicted hauler's hockey team suspends operations 06-13-06
29 charged in CT-NY trash hauling rackets 06-10-06
Garbage 'property rights' 04-28-06
Guilty hauler 04-28-06

Ianniello pleads guilty to trash racketeering

Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, 86, has admitted participation in a waste hauling "property rights" racket within Connecticut, according to a story by John Christoffersen of the Washington Post.

Ianniello, until recently considered by law enforcement to be the top man of the Genovese Crime Family, was one of 29 people charged in connection with the Connecticut racket over the summer. Prosecutors say regional trash czar James Galante of New Fairfield CT oversaw monopolistic cooperation among hauling firms and made regular tribute payments to Ianniello. Competition was suppressed by crime family backing of Galante, they say. (Click for original indictment.)

Ianniello pleaded guilty in New Haven CT federal court today and will be sentenced March 9. He faces between 24 and 30 months in prison for racketeering conspiracy and tax evasion. He faced a possible penalty of 20 years in prison if he went to trial and was convicted, according to a story by Kent Pierce of WTNH-TV. Ianniello admitted to sending representatives to Connecticut quarterly to pick up cash payments, but he did not admit to being a member of the Mafia.
It has been a difficult year for the reputed crime boss. In September he pleaded guilty to racketeering offenses in connection with an allegedly corrupt school bus drivers union. (Click for original indictment.) He admitted to obstructing justice by concealing payoffs he arranged between bus companies and union officials. He could be sentenced up to two years in prison in that case.

While Ianniello is technically "free" on $1 million bail in the trash property rights case, he is actually legally confined to his home (when not making court appearances) as a result of other legal matters.

Law enforcement officials believe that Ianniello became an acting boss of the Genovese family after Vincent "the Chin" Gigante was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 1997. Gigante died in prison last year. (Some authorities now say that Daniel Leo, 65, of Rockleigh NJ, is the top man in the Genovese family.)

According to Galante's defense attorney, Hugh Keefe, the Ianniello plea will not push Galante toward a plea deal. Galante insists that he is innocent of wrongdoing.

On Nov. 1, the former head coach of the Galante-owned Danbury CT Trashers minor league hockey team pleaded guilty to evading league salary cap rules by concealing no-show jobs given to players in waste hauling firms. J. Todd Stirling, 34, acknowledged filing fraudulent reports with the UHL league offices during the 2004-05 season. Prosecutors say the Trashers' actual payroll, including no-show job income and other improper benefits, was about $475,000 over the league salary cap of $275,000. The Trashers team was dissolved over the summer.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut, Danbury CT waste hauler Paul DiNardo, 48, pleaded guilty last Friday to participating in the property rights racket. DiNardo, employed by American Disposal Services of Connecticut and one of the 29 people indicted in June, admitted that he manipulated the bidding process to ensure that his employer would obtain contracts. DiNardo is to be sentenced March 5. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Another defendant in the case, former Waterbury CT mayor Joseph Santopietro is said to be working on a plea deal with federal prosecutors, according to a story in the Boston Globe. Santopietro's attorney Martin Minella said his client had no involvement with Ianniello and would not be affected by Ianniello's plea.

About a third of the defendants in the case have reached plea deals.

Related MobNews items:
School bus union boss charged with racketeering 11-21-2006
NYC schoolbus drivers want mob out of union 11-09-2006
Galante employee admits hockey-trash link 11-02-2006
CT mulls waste hauling regulation 09-24-06
'Matty the Horse' pleads guilty to racketeering 09-15-06
Feds: Galante diverted millions 08-10-06
Galante waste companies could be sold 07-17-06
Trash racket defendants want court delay 07-12-06
Indicted garbage co. tries to hold onto contracts 07-10-06
Strict conditions set for Galante release 07-01-06
Trash king Galante to stay in jail for now 06-28-06
Feds run CT waste biz 06-13-06
Indicted hauler's hockey team suspends operations 06-13-06
29 charged in CT-NY trash hauling rackets 06-10-06
Garbage 'property rights' 04-28-06
Guilty hauler 04-28-06