Danbury trash kingpin James Galante lost control of his empire Friday as FBI agents took him into custody at his White Street garbage plant as part of a breathtakingly broad investigation into the garbage-hauling industry's ties to organized crime.
Galante was charged with 72 counts of racketeering, extortion and witness tampering, among other charges. He was one of 29 people indicted, including an alleged mob leader, a former Waterbury mayor, a state trooper, a Drug Enforcement Agency official and a former hockey coach.
"Organized crime's stranglehold on the citizens of Connecticut through its control of the trash industry has been broken," said Kimberly Mertz, the state's top FBI agent.
The racketeering charges against Galante, owner of Automated Waste Disposal of Danbury, included acts of violence, threats of violence, extortion, bribery and tax evasion. Several of the charges carry 20-year prison sentences and fines of up to $250,000.
And it doesn't stop there. It seems like the hockey team is skating on thin ice as well.
James Galante's dream team, the Danbury Trashers, found itself skating on thin ice Friday with allegations that several of the hockey players and their wives were made part of a plan to defraud the United Hockey League.
Although the families were not identified in the federal indictments, investigators said Galante paid certain players and their spouses with trash company checks, even though they did not work for any of his trash businesses.
Investigators said Galante's overall scheme was designed to circumvent the United Hockey League's salary cap.
According to the indictments, five hockey players and their spouses were added to the payrolls of the various companies owned by Galante, even though the players were receiving regular salaries from the Trashers' team account.
The team's former coach, J. Todd Stirling, was also one of the 29 people charged in the investigation.
One player during the 2004-05 season was allegedly added to the books as a "salesman" for Diversified Waste Disposal and given a DWD check at the end of the month, as well as one from the hockey team.
In 2004, the wife of another hockey player was added to the payroll of Automated Waste Disposal at a yearly salary of $74,000, even though she never worked there.
Who loses out in the end...those faithful Trasher fans.
One question you should ask yourself...how far up the foodchain will this story take us in Danbury?
Who else will be caught up in this net?
Did people turn a blind eye to the dealings of Galante?
That's an angle I'd like the newspaper to examine...or maybe I'll just do it myself.
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On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
