United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

MIDDLETOWN TRASH COMPANY OWNER ADMITS CONCEALING KNOWLEDGE OF INDUSTRY RACKETEERING ACTIVITIES

Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that PHILIP ARMETTA, age 76, an owner and operator of Dainty Rubbish in Middletown, Connecticut, pleaded guilty today to one count of misprision of a felony. In pleading guilty to this charge, ARMETTA admitted that he had knowledge that others had conspired to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and concealed this information from law enforcement.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made previously in court in connection with this matter, carters in Connecticut and New York have engaged in the “property rights system,” whereby they would not service or compete for other carters’ customers. The property rights system, which is predicated on mail and wire fraud, and extortion, 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 primarily at commercial and municipal customers, participating carters agreed to quote inflated prices to customers controlled by other carters.

According to statements made by the Government during today’s court proceeding, in February 2004 and May 2004, ARMETTA made statements in conversations that the property rights system existed in Connecticut, acknowledging that individuals “owned” certain customers, maintained those customers through intimidation, and would retaliate against those who did not follow the unwritten rules. On February 17, 2006, ARMETTA was interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and denied knowledge of a system by which customers were retained by carting companies, or by which customers were retained through intimidation.

Judge Burns scheduled sentencing for July 16, 2007, at which time ARMETTA faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three years and a fine of up to $250,000.

On June 8, 2006, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an Indictment charging ARMETTA and several other individuals and businesses on various charges stemming from a long-term investigation in the waste-hauling industry in Connecticut and eastern New York. Today, ARMETTA waived indictment and pleaded guilty to the substitute charge of misprision of a felony. The Government has agreed to dismiss Count 55 of the Indictment, in which ARMETTA was originally charged, following ARMETTA’s sentencing.

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, Henry K. Kopel and Anthony E. Kaplan are prosecuting this case.

CONTACT:

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