Galante operations manager pleads guilty to racketeering

The operations manager for James Galante”™s metro Danbury trash-hauling operations pleaded guilty in federal court to racketeering, admitting he was part of a conspiracy to limit competition and inflate prices for commercial and municipal customers.
Richard Caccavale, 48, of Stormville, N.Y., was one of 29 individuals and 10 companies indicted last summer after a lengthy federal investigation into Galante”™s Danbury-based trash businesses and its ties to organized crime. Galante faces 72 counts in the indictment, and is under house arrest at his New Fairfield home.
Caccavale, who continues as operations manager at Automated Waste Disposal Inc. and its affiliated companies, faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, and has agreed to forfeit $20,000. He is the second Galante associate to plead guilty to racketeering, and the 16th to plead guilty in plea bargain agreements before U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven.
Prosecutors said Caccavale threatened the operator of another trash-hauling company who had been part of the conspiracy but decided to buck the “property rights system” and compete for customers. Prosecutors said that during a court-authorized wiretap, Caccavale told the trash hauler, “Do yourself a favor for your health, don”™t go this way. Do the right thing.”
Later, in another conversation, Caccavale said members of the conspiracy had damaged a truck belonging to the rebellious hauler. In pleading guilty, he acknowledged the retaliation was based on the company”™s refusal to respect the unwritten rules of the property rights system, prosecutors said.