A 76-year-old Middletown trash hauler pleaded guilty in federal court in New Haven to a reduced charge of misprision of a felony ”“ failing to report a felony to FBI investigators. Philip Armetta, owner and operator of Dainty Rubbish in Middletown, is the 19th of 29 indicted associates of Danbury trash hauler James Galante to plead guilty in the wake of a three-year federal investigation of Galante”™s businesses.
During court proceedings April 27, the government said Armetta made statements in conversations that the so-called property rights system existed in Connecticut, and that trash haulers “owned” certain customers, maintained those customers through intimidation, and would retaliate against haulers who didn”™t follow the unwritten rules. But in February 2006, Armetta denied knowledge of the system when interviewed by FBI agents.
The property rights system is predicated on mail and wire fraud and extortion, and essentially destroys free enterprise, letting haulers inflate their prices and leaving customers no other options, the government said.
Armetta was originally charged with extortion, but pleaded guilty to the substitute charge of misprision of a felony. The government will dismiss the extortion charge when Armetta is sentenced. He faces a maximum prison term of three years and a fine of up to $250,000.
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