Paul Galietti, a former Connecticut State Trooper who had admitted that he intentionally accessed a government computer in a manner that exceeded his lawful authority, was sentenced to pay a fine of $1000 by a federal court judge this week.
According to documents filed with the court and statements made in court, the case started during a long-term investigation into the waste-hauling industry in Connecticut and eastern New York. On September 9, 2004, Richard Galietti, who at the time was the sales manager for Automated Waste Disposal (“AWD”) and related companies, was intercepted speaking with Paul Galietti, his cousin. During the call, Paul Galietti thanked Richard Galietti for a dumpster. Also during the conversation, Richard Galietti asked Paul Galietti to conduct a registration check on a Connecticut license plate. Approximately three minutes later, Paul Galietti informed Richard Galietti that the registration he requested belonged to an individual who was later determined to be associated with a small garbage company that had just started in the Danbury area. During this conversation, Paul Galietti told Richard Galietti to “[n]ever tell anybody I did that for you because you’ll get me fired. It’s a serious thing now. Okay?”
When Richard Galietti replied that he thought his brother (a sheriff in Florida) had almost been fired because of that, Paul Galietti responded, “Yeah no, really, the federal government pinches you now. That’s now a real…serious thing.”
An off-line audit of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system conducted by Connecticut State Troopers assigned to this case has revealed that there was a query of this license plate through Connecticut State Police, Troop G. At the time of this request, National Crime Information Center was assigned to Troop G. The request occurred on September 9, 2004, at 3:33 p.m., less than a minute after Richard Galietti was intercepted asking National Crime Information Center to conduct the registration check.
As a condition of his guilty plea, National Crime Information Center has agreed not to seek any future employment in the field of law enforcement.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Connecticut