Sentence For Solid Waste Magnate In Trash Fraud Scheme

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY — Stephen DiSalvo will serve prison time for the long-distance trash-hauling fraud that he and Christopher Leggio ran for more than five years. He and his co-defendants have already paid more than $3 million in restitution and forfeits, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced Thursday.

DiSalvo, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was sentenced Wednesday to three-to-six years in prison for his role in a fraud involving ATNM Corporation, a Westchester County solid waste hauler.

Prosecutors said their investigations since filing initial charges in November 2015 — when they accused DiSalvo and two helpers of altering dump tickets to show that they had hauled more garbage than they really had so that they were paid based on the higher tonnage — uncovered ill-gotten gains topping $2 million.

This case is separate from the charge DiSalvo faced in 2000, when he was convicted of grand larceny in the second degree in connection with Briarcliff-based A&S DiSalvo Carting. As a result of that conviction, DiSalvo lost his Westchester County solid waste hauling license in 2003.

But he didn't stop trash scamming, using his fax machine in Florida to alter records so clients in New York could be overcharged, the DA said.

Characterizing this as a successful investigation and prosecution, Scarpino said, “The case against ATNM has been an important collaborative effort among the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Criminal Enterprise Bureau, Westchester County Department of Public Safety, and the Westchester County Solid Waste Commission. These agencies worked together to shut down a criminal enterprise costing Westchester County businesses millions of dollars and, now, we are pleased to say all of that money has been returned.”

In November 2015, Leggio and DiSalvo were charged with grand larceny and related crimes in connection with the scheme. Leggio and DiSalvo forged weigh station dump tickets to inflate the tonnage which ATNM trash hauling customers carried and ultimately overbilled them.

DiSalvo pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree May 11, 2017.

After they were arrested in 2015, Christopher C. Leggio, 60, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the first degree and was sentenced earlier this year to one-to-three years in prison. Christopher C. Leggio, on behalf of A.T.N.M., also pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree. Christopher E. Leggio, 23, pleaded guilty to scheme to defraud in the second degree. Both Leggios are Brewster, New York, residents.

ATNM, the corporation, forfeited its solid waste hauling license to the Westchester County Solid Waste Commission.

Background:

In early 2015, the Westchester County Solid Waste Commission discovered that ATNM was conducting fraudulent business practices. Together, the Westchester County Solid Waste Commission, District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Criminal Enterprise Bureau and Westchester County Police conducted a joint investigation that lasted approximately 11 months, forming a successful partnership.

From at least 2010 through the end of 2015, Leggio, who was running ATNM in New York, would fax the dump tickets to DiSalvo, who resided in Florida, on a daily basis. DiSalvo altered the tickets and returned them to Leggio by fax so that Leggio could fraudulently bill the customers. The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office used court-ordered wiretaps to intercept both the fax transmissions as well as the telephone communications between Leggio and DiSalvo about the forgeries and fraud.

The defendants, working together, stole over $2 million from 20 separate victim businesses. One of these victims, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (known as A&P) filed for bankruptcy shortly before the charges were filed against these defendants.

The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office collected $2.2 million in restitution from Leggio and DiSalvo for the 20 larceny victims which were unknowingly defrauded and which had been paying inflated bills from ATNM for years. In addition to restitution, ATNM, Leggio and DiSalvo forfeited a total of $1 million as part of their plea agreements.

Westchester County Solid Waste Commission Acting Executive Director, Tricia O’Callaghan, said after the sentencing, “This teamwork among the Solid Waste Commission, the County Police and the District Attorney’s Office is County government at its finest. There were several Westchester businesses which were victims of this fraud and which now have been made whole again. The Solid Waste Commission and its partners are here to ensure that only individuals of good character, honesty and integrity operate in the solid waste and recyclables hauling industries in Westchester County. We look forward to working with this team again.”

Assistant District Attorney Lauren Abinanti of the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Criminal Enterprise Bureau prosecuted the case.

SEE ALSO:

Westchester Trash-Hauler Accused Again of Larceny, Fraud

PHOTO: Stephen DiSalvo/ DA's Office