A longtime Democratic operative in New Jersey pled guilty Tuesday to a murder-for-hire plot to kill the son of a former state senator.
Sean Caddle and Bomani Africa, one of the men he had hired, both pled guilty to conspiring to commit murder-for-hire.
Caddell hired George Bratsenis in April of 2014 to kill Michael Galdieri. Bratsenis and Africa killed Galdieri the following month then set his apartment on fire.
Caddle and Galdieri had worked together and had been acquaintances for years. The motive in the murder has not yet been released.
“I had given up. I thought for sure the day would never come. I had resolved myself to the fact that whoever did this to my brother got away with murder….well…almost 8 years later, at 7am this morning, 3 FBI agents rang my bell…They got ‘em, Mike…they got em.” Michael Galdieri’s brother, Richie Galdieri posted to Facebook Monday.
Caddle had worked on former Democratic state Sen. Ray Lesniak’s 2013 and 2017 campaigns.
“The most bizarre thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. No..indication whatsoever,” former Democratic state Sen. Ray Lesniak said. “He led a double life. While he was running campaigns for me, a lot of them very successful, he was arranging a murder.”
The presiding judge released Caddle on a $1million unsecured bond to home confinement. The government is seeking a 12 ½ -25 year sentence for Caddle.
“This was a callous and violent crime, and the defendant is as responsible as the two men who wielded the knife,” U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.
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