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| U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney PRESS RELEASE March 12, 2009
ACCOUNTANT FOR DANBURY TRASH COMPANIES SENTENCED TO 29 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON |
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Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTOPHER RAYNER, 47, of Wilmington, North Carolina, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 29 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for crimes he committed while serving as the accountant for companies formerly owned by James Galante of Danbury. Judge Burns also ordered RAYNER to forfeit $150,000 to the government and to pay a fine in the amount of $7500. On August 28, 2008, RAYNER pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), one count of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud. The charges stem from a long-term investigation into the waste-hauling industry in Connecticut and eastern New York. According to statements made in court, RAYNER was the principal accountant and de facto chief financial officer for 25 trash companies located in western Connecticut operated by James Galante, including Automated Waste Disposal (AWD), Diversified Waste Disposal (DWD), Superior Waste Disposal (SWD) and Transfer Systems, Inc. (TSI). RAYNER has admitted that he knew about the operation of the "property rights system," which was an illegal agreement between various carting companies to fix prices for trash hauling services in Connecticut and New York, and efforts made by his co-conspirators to further the system. RAYNER specifically admitted that, in 2005, he attempted to assist in fixing a bid for the operation of a transfer station in Connecticut. James Galante wanted to insure that the transfer station would be operated by a specific individual and directed several of his co-conspirators, including RAYNER, to attempt to rig the bid. At the direction of Galante, RAYNER met with a Stamford-based carter to discuss the bid for the purpose of telling that carter what his bid should be in order to insure that the party backed by Galante would win the bid. The Stamford-based carter told RAYNER that he was not planning to place a bid, a fact that RAYNER subsequently relayed to his co-conspirators. The attempt to fix the bid ultimately failed, however, when another company submitted a competitive bid. On January 28, 2005, Ciro Viento, an operations manager at AWD and affiliated companies, spoke with a representative of the company that won the bid to operate the transfer station. The individual apologized for having won the bid, stating "...you didn't tell me till late that you owned it.... I didn't have a chance to put the snuff on it before the bid went in." As for RAYNER's participation in the conspiracy to defraud the I.R.S., RAYNER, Galante and others operated a multiple object scheme to defraud the I.R.S. with respect to both Galante's personal returns and certain corporate returns. In part, this scheme involved placing a number of no-show employees on the payrolls of trash hauling companies and deducting the expenses related to these employees, including their salaries, health care costs, and expenses associated with the use of free cars, on corporate tax returns. With respect to RAYNER's conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to statements made in court, Galante was the owner of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League during the 2004-2005 season. RAYNER has admitted that he, Galante and others circumvented the League's $275,000 annual salary cap by causing other co-conspirators to prepare and fax fraudulent salary cap reports to the UHL office in Iowa on approximately 30 different occasions. RAYNER admitted that he knew the salary cap reports were false, as he was aware that several Trashers players were receiving income above what was reported to the League. RAYNER admitted that he facilitated the placement of several Trashers players and/or their spouses on the payroll of various waste hauling companies even though they performed no work for those companies. Certain players also received additional unreported compensation in the form of double housing allowance payments and/or cash bonuses that were not reported to the League. With these supplemented salaries, the Trashers' total payroll for the 2004-2005 season was approximately $750,000. On June 3, 2008, James Galante pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), one count of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud. On September 3, 2008, Galante was sentenced to 87 months of imprisonment. Galante also has forfeited his ownership interests in 25 trash hauling companies, a Southbury residence, six racing cars and a trailer used to haul the racing cars, and $448,153.10 seized from Galante's business office and his home. On March 26, 2007, Ciro Viento pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. He currently is serving a 30-month term of imprisonment. All 33 individuals charged with various offenses as a result of this investigation have pleaded guilty. This matter has been investigated
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service
- Criminal Investigation Division, the United States Department
of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and the Connecticut State
Police. The United States Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement
Administration's Office of Professional Responsibility, and the
Connecticut Department of Correction, and the Ansonia, Milford and
New Haven police departments have provided critical assistance in
the Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J.
Gustafson, Raymond F. Miller and Henry K. Kopel are prosecuting
this case.
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