Sean Caddle, the political consultant hired by former state Senator Raymond Lesniak as manager of his 2013 re-election effort and a 2017 vanity campaign for governor, will be sentenced next week in Newark for orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme.
Caddle pleaded guilty in January 2022 to hiring Bomani Africa and George Bratsenis to kill Michael Galdieri, a former Jersey City political operative and the son of another former state senator. Galdieri was stabbed to death in his apartment in May 2014.
Africa and Bratsenis were both convicted of murder and sentenced to prison terms. Africa was sentenced to 240 months in prison, while Bratsenis was sentenced to 192 months in prison.
In April of 2014, Caddle solicited Bratsenis, 74, of Monroe, Connecticut, to commit the murder on his behalf in exchange for thousands of dollars. Bratsenis then recruited Africa, a longtime accomplice, to join the plot.
After Bratsenis and Africa agreed to do the job, Caddle identified the target as Galdieri, a longtime associate who had worked for Caddle on various political campaigns.
On May 22, 2014, Africa and Bratsenis traveled from out of state to Galdieri’s home in Jersey City, where they stabbed the victim to death and then set fire to his apartment.
After Caddle learned that Galdieri had been murdered, the following day, he met Bratsenis in the parking lot of a diner in Elizabeth, where he paid $15,000 in exchange for the assassination, and the hitman shared a portion of those proceeds with Africa.
Caddle is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.
However, Caddle has been under house arrest with electronic monitoring since his guilty plea and prosecutors are expected to recommend a sentence of 30 years in prison in exchange for Caddle’s cooperation in their investigation of other crimes.
Those investigations seem to have turned up only one relatively small fish.
“Almost everyone I talk to assumes Caddle’s cooperation will result in more than this” said Matt Friedman, a reporter for Politico. “After all, he admitted hiring hit men. Would the feds really offer him home confinement for such a serious crime in order to take down one political operative?”
Antonio “Tony Tex” Teixeira, 43, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, the longtime Union County Democratic operative who was most recently chief of staff to Senate President Nicholas “No-Show Nick” Scutari, pleaded guilty on November 21, 2022, to wire fraud and tax evasion before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez.
From 2014 to 2018, Teixeira conspired with Caddle and his political consulting firms, to defraud various campaigns, political action committees, and 501(c)(4) organizations of at least $107,800. Teixeira then failed to report his illicit income on tax forms that he filed with the IRS during those same years.
Caddle’s financial ties to Lesniak used non-profit charities, super PACs and political committees to undermine New Jersey’s campaign finance laws, which limit campaign contributions and bar public contractors from giving money to the officials who award them contracts.
Caddle was paid millions of dollars by Lesniak as well as Dark Money groups that the Elizabeth lawmaker controlled through his former chief of staff, Teixeira, and the political consultant.
Lesniak hired Caddle as manager of his 2013 re-election effort and a 2017 vanity campaign for governor. Lesniak also orchestrated the funding for non-profit charities, super PACs and political committees that Caddle set up to execute political objectives for Lesniak.
The network of entities created by Caddle and his associates allowed Lesniak to effectively launder money solicited from various donors, whose identies were disguised even though their funds were used to influence elections that are subject to financial disclosure rules.
One nonprofit called National Progressive Organization donated $70,000 to A Better Elizabeth, a super PAC that paid for dozens of canvassers and campaign literature promoting candidates who were backed by the city’s Democratic establishment for the local Board of Education, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Prosecutors have not said if they are investigating Lesniak in connection with the murder or other crimes as a result of Caddle’s cooperation, although it is unlikely that his testimony would be very valuable since . Jamal-Holley-Jerry-Green
Caddle’s sentencing is scheduled for June 29.
The sentencing hearing may be a high-profile event, as it will be the first time that Caddle has faced the consequences of his actions since pleading guilty to murder-for-hire.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to be held on Thursday, June 29 in U.S. District Court in Newark.