Ex-trooper fined, trash conspiracy case

New Haven (AP) - A former state trooper has escaped prison time for his role in a massive garbage industry price-fixing conspiracy.

Paul Galietti pleaded guilty last October to improperly accessing a government computer. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Bree Burns fined him $1,000. He had faced up to six months in prison.

Federal prosecutors say the 41-year-old Galietti relayed license plate information about a Connecticut-based garbage collector to his cousin Richard, a lead salesman at James Galante's Automated Waste Disposal.

Galante was sentenced last year to more than seven years in prison. Prosecutors say he paid a quarterly mob tax to the Genovese crime family in exchange for muscle to stifle trash hauling competition and drive up rates for customers.