Trash hauler sentenced to prison after $2M scam

Stephen DiSalvo, who operated the Briarcliff Manor, New York-based trash hauling business A.T.N.M. Corp, has been sentenced to three to six years in prison for his role in scamming customers of Westchester County, New York, out of more than $2 million in a scheme that ran from at least 2010 to 2015, The Journal News reports.

DiSalvo and his codefendant, Christopher C. Leggio, pleaded guilty to doctoring dump tickets from weigh stations to show a higher volume of waste being moved than what the company actually hauled. As part of the scam, Leggio would fax dump tickets to DiSalvo, who would then doctor the documents and fax them back to Leggio, who then would use the tickets to fraudulently bill customers. In all, there were found to be 20 victims of the fraud, including Montvale, New Jersey-based A&P supermarkets.

The Westchester County Solid Waste Commission discovered the fraud, and authorities subsequently intercepted faxes and phone calls between the codefendants to confirm their involvement in the scheme.

DiSalvo and Leggio have paid back more than $2 million to their victims and forfeited another $1 million as mandated by the Westchester County District Attorney's Office.

"[Prosecutors, Westchester County law enforcement and the Solid Waste Commission] 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," Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino Jr. said in a statement.

Leggio previously pleaded guilty to a felony charge of first-degree grand larceny and was sentenced to one to three years in prison. A.T.N.M. also pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny and forfeited its hauling license. DiSalvo, a former operator of A&S DiSalvo Carting in Briarcliff Manor, New York, lost his Westchester waste hauling license in 2003. He was previously convicted of second-degree grand larceny for dumping waste from his private customers at the town of Ossining, New York’s expense.