Hudson Valley Trash Magnate Takes Plea in $2 Million Fraud Scheme

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY — Stephen DiSalvo, former head of one of Westchester County's biggest trash haulers, pleaded guilty to one count of Grand Larceny, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced Thursday. That's substantially less than what he was charged with in December. Still, it's DiSalvo's second conviction in connection with trash hauling, and he could face prison time.

DiSalvo was arrested in 2015 then hit in 2016 with a 40-count indictment stemming from an ongoing investigation into fraud and theft. Prosecutors said in December that 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 more fraud. First, they estimated the theft of more than $500,000. In December they alleged the ill-gotten gains topped $2 million.

In November 2015, DiSalvo was charged with:

• one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony
• one count of Scheme To Defraud in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony.

In December 2016, he was charged with:

• one count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class “B” Felony,
• three counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, class “C” Felonies,
• 19 counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, class “D” Felonies,
• three counts of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, class “E” Felonies,
• one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony and
• four counts of Petit Larceny, class “A” Misdemeanors.

He pleaded guilty to a single count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree.

The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office alleged that between 2010 and 2015, DiSalvo participated in falsifying, forging and altering more than 3,000 dump tickets issued from at least six different weigh stations in and around Westchester County, leading to the larceny of more than $2 million from about 20 victims.

Those charges had to do with the trash hauling business of Briarcliff Manor-based A.T.N.M. Corp. They were 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.

DiSalvo, 60, now lives in Ormond Beach, Florida.

His two co-conspirators had already pleaded guilty.

Christopher E. Leggio, 21, pleaded guilty to scheme to defraud in the second degree and faces a maximum of one year in jail. Christopher C. Leggio, 57, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the first degree and faces a minimum of one to three years and a maximum of eight and a third to twenty-five years of imprisonment when he is sentenced. Christopher C. Leggio, on behalf of A.T.N.M., also pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree.

DiSalvo remains out after posting $50,000 bail. His next court date is Aug. 16.

Because of DiSalvo’s prior conviction, he can receive a sentence of a minimum of three to six years and a maximum of seven and a half to fifteen years in state prison for his plea of guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Scarpino said.

Assistant District Attorney Lauren Abinanti of the Investigations Division is prosecuting this case.

SEE:

• Westchester Trash-Hauler Accused of Larceny, Fraud
  
• Westchester Trash-Hauler Accused Again of Larceny, Fraud