United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

TRASH COMPANY “NO-SHOW” EMPLOYEE IS SENTENCED

Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANNA PRISKIE, age 45, of 5 Deerfield Lane, Cortland Manor, New York, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to six months of home confinement and two years of probation. In addition, Judge Burns departed upward from the fine range suggested by the sentencing guidelines and imposed a fine of $40,000.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, from at least January 2000 through July 2005, PRISKIE received employee compensation and health insurance benefits from Automated Waste Disposal, Inc. (“AWD”) of Danbury, Connecticut, even though she provided no employee services to AWD or any related company. PRISKIE’s family also received the free use of a Lexus GS300 from AWD during a portion of this period of time. While a “no-show” employee of AWD, PRISKIE falsely reported to the Internal Revenue Service that the $90,458.80 she received from AWD for the tax years 2000 through 2004 was earned income. PRISKIE also failed to report to the IRS either the value of the health care benefits or the free use of automobiles.

In June 2006, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an Indictment charging PRISKIE, 28 additional individuals and 10 businesses, including Automated Waste Disposal, on various charges stemming from a long-term investigation into the waste-hauling industry in Connecticut and eastern New York.

As to AWD and the other defendants in this matter, U.S. Attorney O’Connor stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which it is the Government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations and the Connecticut State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Gustafson, Raymond F. Miller, Anthony Kaplan and Henry K. Kopel are prosecuting this case.

CONTACT:

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