I learned very early on theres enforcers in hockey, obviously. But in doing that, I tore, I dont know what the official diagnosis was, but I tore all these ligaments and cartilage, and I had a chip in my kneecap. Celebrity.fm #1 Official Stars, Business & People Network, Wiki, Success story, Biography & Quotes. Why he chose pizza places I'll never know, but it was nice getting free pizza all the time.. [23], In 2007, Former Connecticut State Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in connection with Galante. I just became a fan. Galante was owner of twenty five different trash disposal businesses based out of Danbury, Connecticut and estimated to be worth over $100 million. He is the ex-CEO of Automated Waste Disposal, waste management, and disposal company. HBO. He owned a trash collecting business that grew substantially before he purchased a minor league hockey team that was set up in Danbury, Connecticut. So, I was playing. By now, Galante had established himself as a capable and reliable hitman. While he was still hobbling around on crutches, AJ received some exciting news: his father had bought a minor league hockey team, and AJ was going to run it as its general manager. He is an American businessman and social personality who earns most of his income from his own businesses. Police said James Galante, 18, died from his injuries after his car crashed off Ocean Avenue, a causeway in Marblehead. Oh God, Jon Mirasty. James/Jimmy Galante was the king of garbage disposal and the mastermind behind the illegal activity which pertained to the Danbury Trashers. The prosecution alleged that Jimmy and his companies forced people to pay up more for trash pick up. It was at this meeting that the old and new Mafia divided the lucrative heroin trafficking routes and roles each clan would play. He has a net worth of $500k, which is enough to lead a happy yet lavish lifestyle. If youre a minor league hockey enforcer, and once youre too old to play hockey, what are the most of these guys do afterwards? I dont know if it was adrenaline, but then I just couldnt get up. And theyre sick. And it was sick, because a couple of the guys, Wingfield, Murasty, Id be like, Number two, and theyd nod, and they just did it. The team played in the Danbury Arena. Because like the mob, you're all intertwined, you're all family.. In his own words, his son AJ was the love of his life, so the next step was to gift the 17-year-old teen his own hockey team. A lot of these guys turn to coaching, believe it or not. After all, how would his fighters react to seeing the home movies he submitted from his childhood? Jimmy Galante was charged with crimes including extortion, evading the IRS, and racketeering as well as wire fraud. [11], Although he initially entered a plea of not guilty, in June 2008, Galante agreed to a change-of-plea hearing. [12] Galante acknowledged that he defrauded the IRS, including writing double paychecks for some employees and having them return one of them to him in cash, claiming items he purchased for his girlfriend's horse farm including hay and a wide-screen television as business expenses, and skimming cash from the register at the Danbury garbage transfer station. My knee cap was actually on the side of my knee which I didnt know at the time, because I had all my gear on. The other guys didnt know that, but we knew that. Tayler Holder Net Worth. So I'm not going to spoil the show because it was not only a great crime show but also a bit of a comedy as well. While sporting gold chains, oversized jerseys, and an always lined up fade, Galante fostered an environment in which fighting was not only tolerated, but encouraged. Many of whom AJ found by browsing websites like hockeyfights.com, and whose services the Trashers were able to afford thanks to some allegedly creative accounting tricks pulled by AJs father. I watched little parts here or there, but I never sat down and watched Slapshot. He ended up serving an eight-year sentence. It's a notion he humbly accepts but still isn't sure he deserves. Hockey, a lot of teams, you have to have that, but a lot of teams dont want it, they just need it. AJ stepped away from hockey for a while, and his father served time in federal prison. James Galante (born January 5, 1953) is an American convicted felon and associate of the Genovese crime family,[1] owner of the defunct Danbury Trashers minor-league hockey team and a defunct racecar team fielding cars for Ted Christopher, and ex-CEO of Automated Waste Disposal (AWD), a company that holds waste disposal contracts for most of western Connecticut and Westchester and Putnam counties in New York. If there is a thing besides criminal intent that mafia is known for that is most certainly Cuban Cigars. Celebrity.fm #1 Official Stars, Business & People Network, Wiki, Success story, Biography & Quotes, Are Mary Lou and Cody together? "It's clear he fell in love with the drama, the entertainment value, the storytelling that goes along with wrestling figures and the theatrics of it all," Way explained to Thrillist. I read about the equipment manager, that you guys had maybe playing some tricks on the other teams [such as soaking the home jerseys in Crisco so the other team couldnt grab them]. That's how Sicilian he was. On November 13, 2007, DeLuca cut the investigation short by announcing his resignation from the State Senate. He also had to promise to never work in the industry again, ultimately destroying his empire. It also estimated that the Genovese familyconsists of about 270 @COMILLASmade@COMILLAS members. It is what it is. Chief among them, Joseph Bonanno, the leader of the Mafia family Galante had become a member of and would one day come to lead himself. So, it was a weird dynamic to learn how this stuff works, but no, I mean, like I said, its the personalities. He knew that this was gonna be his big shot.. DeLuca also accepted large donations from Galante and his associates and allegedly promised to look out for Galante's interests. As of November 2007, a State Senate Committee was considering an appropriate sanction for DeLuca. Tresca was shot to death, allegedly, by Galante in front of his office in Manhattan on January 11, 1943. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz. Galante was only initially paid $7.6 million. Look, anyone that grows up over here in the Northeast, there wasnt an Italian-American that I knew around here that didnt think, Oh, that could be me, or, That could be this one, or, That could be that. So I dont know, Ive heard it my whole life, I used to hear that type of stuff. New York Mafia boss Carmine Galante was one of the most ruthless mobsters in the world. The heroin pipeline that now flowed from Europe to North America was dubbed the Pizza Connection. So a lot of the guys we brought in, they were treated like gods, and theyre very loyal, these hockey guys. He hit me in the face with a shot, and I couldnt let him know it hurt me, but it was like getting hit with a brick, Ill never forget it. [17], Galante also agreed to forfeit a horse farm he bought for a former girlfriend, six racing cars, a racing trailer and $448,000 in cash that federal agents seized in 2006, and must pay at least $1.6 million in back taxes to the IRS. Or at least he was, until a catastrophic injury his senior year. Actor: The Sopranos. According to the indictment, the Trashers' real payroll was nearly $750,000. James Gandolfini. 3 of 50. James Galante, who had direct ties to the Genovese crime family, who have been cited as part of the inspiration for The Sopranos, was arrested under a massive FBI indictment and was charged. I mean, there was a lot of stuff, away games were crazy too, because usually, hockey teams, theyre tough at home, but when they go away, they kind of shy away from it. [8] Among those also indicted as a result of the investigation were former Waterbury Mayor Joseph Santopietro, former Division Manager for Diversified Waste and Genovese Crime Family enforcer Robert Taggett, federal Drug Enforcement Agent Louis Angioletti, several of Galante's underlings and former Danbury Trashers hockey coach H. Todd Stirling. He was 69. Come along for the ride! I didnt sit on my laurels. I know I do. I know when my dad started the team, one of his main reasons was, Hey, I want to bring an identity to the city. It only lasted two years, but were still talking about it to this day. Required fields are marked *. As the team president, how did you sort of foster an environment that would make it happen? ", AJ sort of Moneyball'd it. Loading. "We marketed to hard-working blue-collar people," he said. Regarding his life after prison, Jimmy said, Everybody in life has a hard-luck story, and mostly, they have more than one or two. He just has an inherent knack for storytelling.". He ended up serving an eight-year sentence. Over six stellar seasons of The Sopranos, viewers got to see Tony (James Gandolfini) deal with a lot of complex issues.Tony's problems sometimes come from an outside source, such as the long . James Galante, who had direct ties to the Genovese crime family, who have been cited as part of the inspiration for The Sopranos, was arrested under a massive FBI indictment and was charged with 72 counts of racketeering, extortion, and witness tampering, among other crimes. The Danbury Trashers' reign was short-lived, but their larger-than-life reputation lives on. The FBI had undercover agents that gathered information from Jimmys men, and soon, wiretaps and search warrants followed. How? By Tom Fordy 22 September 2021 3:55pm. So, we were looking to replace him. As of 2022, Jimmy Galante is estimated to have a net worth of $3 million. At the time of this interview, AJ admitted he hadn't watched Crimes and Penalties yet. MARBLEHEAD Marblehead High School senior James Galante had a lot to celebrate. He was a well-known philanthropist, but because of his controversy, he eventually had to stop, and by taking the wrong turns in his life, his life was turned upside down. "I was just as shocked as other people," AJ revealed during a Zoom chat with Thrillist about his initial reaction to his father's larger-than-life gift. Jimmy Galante was one of the more divisive personalities in Connecticut during the 1990s and early 2000s. Did Wayne Gretzky's brother play in the NHL? Michael Gandolfini is the son of Sopranos star and Hollywood legend James Gandolfini. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. The trashers were famous for intentionally starting as many hockey fights as possible. They never forgot who would treat them the way we treated them. It was a great show though, for sure. The story of Jimmy Galante and his garbage empire he built in Danbury, Conn., spans through the 90s and into the early 2000s. Did they change the actress for Tonks? Celebrity.fm #1 Official Stars, Business & People Network, Wiki, Success story, Biography & Quotes, Who died on escaping polygamy? His story is now the subject of a new Netflix crime documentary, Untold: Crime & Penalties, releasing on the streaming service on Aug. 31. AJ Galante lived with his family in New Fairfield, Connecticut, at the time. [3] He was released in 2014 after serving seven years. He trusted the Sicilian people more than he trusted anyone else. I do what I got to do, they throw two punches and then they hug. He said of Jimmy, After all my father did for me and continues to do for me the very least I could do was visit him at least twice a month. [24] Other Connecticut politicians, including Connecticut U.S. So many guys, they just stay in the sport one way or the other. Among the allegations, Stirling and Galante allegedly violated the UHLs $275,000/team salary cap by giving several players and their wives no-show jobs with AWD and hiding illegitimate payments as housing allowances, according to the indictment, which stated that the Trashers real payroll was nearly $750,000. [25], Last edited on 26 December 2022, at 08:00, "Ball assails Stephens over Southeast trash contract", Galante Admits Guilt; His Trash Empire Crumbles, "The Mobster Who Bought His Son a Hockey Team", "Indicted trash magnate says feds ruining his businesses", "INVESTIGATION INTO CONNECTICUT & NEW YORK TRASH HAULING INDUSTRY RESULTS IN INDICTMENT OF 29 INDIVIDUALS", James Galante cops a plea, and loses his empire, Guilty plea in trash industry mob corruption probe, Businessman with alleged mob ties pleads guilty to racketeering charges, "Galante ally pleads guilty in New York Case", "Reputed Mob Figure, trash hauler arrested", Connecticut Trash Hauler Pleads Guilty in Mob Case, Galante will plead guilty today, says report, Future owners may split AWD, transfer station, "Convicted trash hauler to get $3.1M from feds", Galante guilty of racketeering in garbage scheme, "Former hockey coach living in Plymouth charged with fraud in mob investigation", "Secrecy is not best reaction to Federal Investigation", http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hcu-delucaresign-link-1113,0,7487526.storylink?coll=hc_tab01_layout, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Galante&oldid=1129604849, This page was last edited on 26 December 2022, at 08:00.