United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

FORMER GENERAL MANAGER OF NEW YORK TRASH COMPANY IS SENTENCED

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID MAGEL, 35, of Florida, formerly of Baldwin Place, New York, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to seven months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).  MAGEL pleaded guilty to the charge on August 10, 2006.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, MAGEL formerly was the General Manager of CRP Carting, a carting company located in Elmsford, New York.  MAGEL has admitted that conspired to perpetuate a system, commonly called the “property rights system,” through which carters 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 principally directed at commercial and municipal customers, participating carters agreed to quote inflated prices to customers controlled by other carters.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, representatives from James Galante-owned Automated Waste Disposal (“AWD”) and affiliated companies of Danbury sought to operate the property rights system in eastern New York.  To accomplish this goal, they spoke with MAGEL and other New York carters and arranged a meeting in December 2004.  MAGEL then met with Ciro Viento and Richard Galietti of AWD, and others, at a diner in Mt. Kisco, New York.  At this meeting, Galietti proposed that MAGEL and others agree to inflate prices for New York carting services and displayed a piece of paper that listed a suggested price.

Following the meeting, MAGEL engaged in a series of telephone calls with Viento and Galietti concerning their efforts to effectuate a property rights system.  On December 21, 2004, law enforcement intercepted one conversation between MAGEL, Galietti and Viento during which MAGEL agreed to provide inflated quotes to customers of the other participants in the conspiracy.  Stating “I’m shootin’ for the, for the gusto here,” MAGEL agreed to inflate his quotes for New York customers serviced by other members of the conspiracy to $20 per yard.  On January 10, 2005, the FBI intercepted a call in which MAGEL informed Viento, in light of the agreement, he “had let two condos go.”

Thirty-three individuals, including MAGEL, Galante, Galietti and Viento, have pleaded guilty to various federal charges stemming from a long-term investigation into the waste-hauling industry in Connecticut and eastern New York.  James Galante currently is serving a 78-month term of imprisonment, Viento is serving a 30-month term and Galietti a 46-month term for their roles in this conspiracy.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General and the Connecticut State Police.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Gustafson, Raymond F. Miller, and Henry K. Kopel are prosecuting these cases.

CONTACT:

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