A former state trooper whose cousin was a top salesman in James Galante's garbage empire was spared jail time Wednesday in U.S. District Court at his sentencing for illegally checking the license plate of a competing trash hauler on a law enforcement database.
Paul Galietti, 41, pleaded guilty in October before Judge Ellen Bree Burns to intentionally exceeding his authorized access to a government computer, a crime punishable by up to a year in prison.
But a plea agreement between federal prosecutors and his lawyer, Gary A. Mastronardi, called for a maximum jail sentence of six months, which Burns spared him altogether Wednesday by imposing a $1,000 fine during sentencing proceedings that lasted about 10 minutes.
When Galietti pleaded guilty, Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond Miller said in court that federal agents overheard Galietti talking to his cousin, Richard Galietti, who at the time was sales manager for Galante-controlled Automated Waste Disposal, on a call in September 2004.
During the call, Miller said, Richard Galietti asked his cousin to run a check on a Connecticut license plate. Minutes later federal agents heard Paul Galietti giving Richard Galietti the name of the person the car was registered to.
The person was affiliated with a small trash hauling company in Danbury that was not participating in the so-called "property rights system" that artificially kept prices for trash collection in the area high, Miller said.
After he gave his cousin the information, agents overheard Paul Galietti warning of the risks of other people finding out about the check, Miller said.
"Never tell anybody I did that for you, because you'll get me fired," Miller quoted Galietti as saying. "It's a serious thing now, OK?"
According to Miller, when Richard Galietti then told his cousin that his brother, a sheriff in Florida, had gotten in trouble for the same reason, Paul Galietti said: "Yeah, no really, the federal government pinches you now. That's a real f---ing serious thing."
Later, Miller said, state police checked the law enforcement database Galietti accessed and found that a query of the plate had occurred during the wiretapped conversation, from the troop Galietti was assigned to.
Galietti resigned from the state police after being indicted as part of the Galante probe. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed never to seek any employment in law enforcement.
All 33 people arrested as a result of the federal investigation into trash hauling in the area have pleaded guilty.
Galante himself is serving an 87-month prison sentence on racketeering, wire fraud and tax evasion charges. He also forfeited ownership of 25 trash hauling companies, a Southbury residence, six race cars and nearly $450,000 in cash seized during the investigation.
Paul Galietti's day in court he pleaded guilty to exceeding his authorized access to a government computer in October 2008. n Plea agreement called for a jail sentence up to six months and a fine of up to $5,000. n U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns sentenced Galietti on Wednesday to a $1,000 fine.
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http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-trashprobeaug12,0,3596851.story
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