A New Jersey political operative who pleaded guilty in a murder-for-hire scheme was sentenced on Thursday to 24 years in prison – far longer than prosecutors recommended.
Sean Caddle, 45, worked on political campaigns, raised money and created dark money groups to shield the identities of donors. He pleaded guilty in 2022 to hiring two hitmen to kill his friend Michael Galdieri at Galdieri’s Jersey City apartment in 2014.
According to federal prosecutors’ sentencing memo, Caddle said Galdieri had become erratic due to drug use, and was shaking him down for money, threatening to expose secrets he knew about campaigns.
Judge Michael Vasquez was not swayed by prosecutors’ request that he be lenient on Caddle because he had significantly helped obtain a guilty plea by Antonio Teixeira — another political operative who’d been chief of staff to state Senate President Nicholas Scutari when he was charged, and who worked for then-state Sen. Ray Lesniak at the time of Teixeira’s crimes.
“He did this to save his own skin,” Vasquez said about Caddle. “I hold Mr. Caddle the most responsible person in this conspiracy. He paid for a cold-blooded killing.”
Vasquez previously sentenced the two hitmen, George Bratsenis and Bomani Africa, to 16 and 20 years respectively.
Galdieri’s sister, Virginia, spoke tearfully at Caddle’s sentencing hearing about the lifelong pain the murder of her brother had caused everyone in her family.
Vasquez said he was unimpressed with the cooperation that netted Teixeira’s conviction, and he did not think Caddle had fully taken responsibility for the murder based on an interview conducted for the court before sentencing.
“It really gives me pause,” Vasquez said, adding Caddle said he should have surrounded himself with a “higher class of people” who didn’t abuse drugs.
“This was Mr. Caddle’s idea — to have his friend murdered because he didn’t want to be exposed for criminal activity he was engaging in with Mr….
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