(CLEVELAND) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that Christopher L. Gattarello has been sentenced to three years in prison for illegally dumping tons of garbage in Cleveland. Gattarello and his two companies also were fined a combined total of $100,000 and were ordered to clean up the two sites where the garbage was dumped.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Dick Ambrose issued the sentence today in a state case filed against Christopher Gattarello, Axelrod Recycling, and Reachout Disposal.
Gattarello, Axelrod Recycling, and Reachout Disposal each entered guilty pleas to the same five counts — two counts of illegal open dumping, two counts of operating a solid waste landfill without a license, and one count of operating a solid waste transfer facility without a license.
Investigators found that Gattarello and others allowed thousands of tons of garbage to be illegally dumped at the former National Acme facilities located at 170 East 131st Street and 965 Wayside Avenue in Cleveland. Gattarello owned and controlled several municipal garbage-hauling businesses in greater Cleveland, including Reachout Disposal and Axelrod Recycling.
“Christopher Gattarello showed total disregard for the law and for the people who live near these facilities,” Attorney General DeWine said. “We are glad that he is finally being held accountable for his actions.”
The case was investigated by the Cuyahoga County Health Department, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The state case was prosecuted by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in cooperation with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
Christopher Gattarello also was indicted in a separate but related federal case. The sentence in the state case will be stayed pending the outcome of the federal case, which is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
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