United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

SHORELINE WASTE HAULER INVOLVED IN RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR IN FEDERAL PRISON

Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DENNIS BOZZUTO, 37, of Madison, Connecticut, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 12 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).  Judge Burns also ordered BOZZUTO to pay a fine in the amount of $10,000.  BOZZUTO pleaded guilty to the offense on November 16, 2006.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, BOZZUTO, while he was an owner and operator of John’s Refuse of Northford, Connecticut, conspired with others to perpetuate a system, commonly called the “property rights system.”  Carters engaged in the property rights system would not service or compete for other carters’ customers.  The property rights system essentially destroys free enterprise, allowing the participating carters to artificially inflate their prices and leaving waste removal customers with no other options.  In this scheme, which was directed at commercial and municipal customers, participating carters agreed to quote inflated prices to customers controlled by other carters.  BOZZUTO admitted that he participated in the affairs of the enterprise by agreeing to respect the unwritten rules of the property rights system.  Some of BOZZUTO’s co-conspirators enforced this system through extortion and threats.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, BOZZUTO joined this conspiracy by placing artificially high bids with customers “owned”  by a co-conspirator, for the purpose of furthering the property rights system.  On two occasions, at the request of a co-conspirator, BOZZUTO, through John’s Refuse, submitted inflated bids to“Customer X” and “Customer Y.”  At that time, these two customers were being serviced by American Disposal Services of Connecticut (“ADS”).  In March 2005, the co-conspirator instructed BOZZUTO to submit a bid of “one-four,” or $14 per yard for trash removal services, to Customer X, which was approximately twice the price that ADS had bid.  BOZZUTO subsequently faxed the inflated bid of $14 per yard to Customer X.  Also in March 2005, the co-conspirator requested that BOZZUTO bid $14 per yard to Customer Y, which, again, was approximately twice the price that ADS was charging Customer Y at that time.  BOZZUTO subsequently faxed an inflated bid of approximately $10 per yard to Customer Y.

To date, 33 individuals and 10 businesses have been charged with various offenses stemming from a long-term investigation into the waste-hauling industry in Connecticut and eastern New York.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Divison, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and the Connecticut State Police.  The United States Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Connecticut Department of Correction have provided critical assistance in the Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Gustafson, Raymond F. Miller, and Henry K. Kopel are prosecuting this case.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov