Political consultant pleads guilty in murder-for-hire plot
DAVID PORTER
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey political consultant and one of the two men he paid to kill a longtime associate in 2014 have admitted to the plot in court.
Bomani Africa, 61, pleaded guilty to helping carry out the the murder-for-hire scheme Wednesday before a judge in federal court in Newark during a video conference.
The development comes just a day after political consultant Sean Caddle, of Hamburg, New Jersey, appeared in court and pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit murder for hire charge.
A motive in the scheme is not clear. Messages have been left with attorneys for Africa and Caddle. An automated message on Caddle’s cell phone said he wasn’t accepting calls.
According to authorities, Caddle solicited a Connecticut resident in April 2014 to commit the killing for thousands of dollars. That person recruited an accomplice from Philadelphia and they fatally stabbed the victim and set fire to the victim’s apartment the next month. Prosecutors did not identify the names of suspects, but Africa said in court that he helped carry out the conspiracy on Caddle’s behalf.
Prosecutors also did not identify the other suspect or the victim. But Africa named the victim in court as Michael Galdieri, the son of late former state Sen. James Galdieri. News outlets had earlier reported that the circumstances of the death matched those of Michael Galdieri.
Authorities said Caddle learned the following day that the victim had been killed and he paid off the first conspirator in the parking lot of a diner in Elizabeth. Africa said in court that the other suspect shared some of the cash with him.
It’s unclear how much they got.
“This was a callous and violent crime, and this defendant is as responsible as the two men who wielded the knife,” U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a statement.
The judge allowed Caddle to remain free on $1 million unsecured bond, home detention with electronic monitoring and travel restrictions while he faces a sentence of up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Africa’s status was not clear.
According to court documents, Caddle provided information to authorities in late September, about a month before he signed a plea agreement. The government is not pursuing further charges related to the murder-for-hire plot and is seeking a prison sentence of between 12 1/2 and 25 years, according to the documents.
Caddle also worked on the 2013 and 2017 campaigns for former Democratic state Sen. Ray Lesniak, of Union County.
“The most bizarre thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. No … indication whatsoever,” Lesniak said in a phone interview. “He led a double life. While he was running campaigns for me — a lot of them very successful — he was arranging a murder.”
NJ.com said Michael Galdieri had worked on the campaign of former state Assemblyman Lou Manzo and on Bret Schundler’s run for Jersey City mayor in 1993.
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This story has been corrected to show that the government agreed to not pursue further charges as part of the plea agreement. It did not agree to drop additional charges.
