Trash titan Chuck Rizzo gets 5½ years: 'I've let many people down'

In the end, he got a break.

Trash mogul Chuck Rizzo, a onetime farm boy who bypassed college to grow his lawn business into a garbage empire, was sentenced to 5½ years in prison Monday for crimes that could have landed him behind bars for a decade.

The judge took into consideration Rizzo's cooperation and guilty plea. So did the prosecution, which pushed for 75 months — though Rizzo got nine months less than that.

Before he learned his punishment, Rizzo broke down sobbing in the courtroom, saying he was sorry for hurting his family, his business and the residents of the communities where he paid bribes.

"There is no doubt that I have let many people down and disappointed my family, as well as business associates, my employer. ... For all of that, I am genuinely sorry and I apologize," Rizzo said in court, struggling to get his words out.

"I broke the law. I admit to paying politicians for favorable treatment. I admit to taking money from Rizzo Environmental Services," Rizzo said. "I know I am going to prison."

Then he broke down crying

"I am ready to accept my punishment," said Rizzo, a married father of three who stopped at times to collect himself.

"I am ready to put this chapter of my life behind me," Rizzo said in the courtroom, where more than a dozen relatives and friends showed up as a sign of support, some of them wiping away tears. " I can't let myself forget how I got here."

Rizzo's sentence comes almost a year after the self-made millionaire was indicted in a sprawling corruption investigation in Macomb County, accused of lining the pockets of corrupt politicians to win lucrative contracts and stealing from his own company to enrich himself and build a mansion.

Rizzo, however, was also the government's key witness in the probe that focused on pay-to-play schemes in the booming suburban county. He wore a wire for months and helped the FBI ensnare multiple public officials who sold their votes to Rizzo, who has maintained the bribers initiated the scheming — not the other way around.

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The government took into consideration Rizzo's cooperation and recommended a sentence of 75 months, when he could have gotten 10 years under the sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors argued that, in the end, Rizzo was more culpable than the politicians he bribed because — they claim — he made millions while they only got thousands in bribes. And, they claim, Rizzo was the ringleader.

"His criminal corruption was long-standing," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gardey said in court. "He stood to profit, and he did profit handsomely."

Gardey conceded that Rizzo had many strong attributes: intelligence, generosity, a supportive family. But he messed up along the way, he said.

"Mr. Rizzo used those advantages, not for the good, but to satisfy his greed and ambition," Gardey said.

Rizzo, 47, of Bloomfield Hills is among several businessmen targeted in the investigation — which has so far netted 20 defendants and 15 convictions — though prosecutors have labeled Rizzo the villain of the scandal.

Federal prosecutors had argued that Rizzo deserves six years in prison because, they claim, he was the most culpable player in the investigation, which revealed Rizzo had bribed public officials in at least four Macomb County communities to win lucrative contracts and embezzled $900,000 from his company and investors to line his own pockets.

But Rizzo argued that he cooperated in the case, wore a wire for months for the FBI and helped build a case that without his help would have gone undetected.

A point of contention for Rizzo is that the bribe takers are facing sentences of less than five years, and they didn't cooperate. Moreover, Rizzo's lawyers have claimed, prosecutors know that Rizzo wasn't the bad guy as they have allegedly admitted he "was not the cause of corruption in Macomb County; rather he got caught up in something that” politicians started.

But Rizzo did admit to wrongdoing. And according to court documents, he knew early on that he wouldn't escape charges, even though he wore a wire for months and led a secret life.

Prosecutors have labeled Rizzo a greedy schemer who lied repeatedly and bought off corrupt politicians and stole $900,000 from his trash company and investors, including the Boy Scouts of America, to enrich himself and his family. Prosecutors also alleged Rizzo used his ill-gotten gains to help build his $2.5-million mansion in Bloomfield Township.

Rizzo cut a deal last fall, pleading guilty to bribery and wire fraud, admitting he paid $50,000 in bribes to then-Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds for help in extending a lucrative garbage contract. He also provided Reynolds with a free lawyer for a legal problem he was having in exchange for his help. Reynolds is awaiting trial.

Rizzo also admitted bribing ex-Macomb Township Trustee Clifford Freitas, who also worked for Rizzo's garbage company while he worked for the township. Rizzo admitted that he promised Freitas a $35,000 raise if he would help put residents' trash bills on the water bill, which saved Rizzo money. Freitas cut a deal in the case.

As for the wire fraud count, Rizzo admitted that he embezzled thousands of dollars from his garbage company, which was largely owned by a private equity firm in New York and numerous investors, including the Boy Scouts of America and various pension funds.

Rizzo’s attorneys argue that Rizzo, who once had garbage hauling contracts in more than 50 communities, helped save at least 30 of them nearly $28 million for picking his firm over competitors. Moreover, they said at least 300 elected officials picked Rizzo as their trash hauler, though he only was charged with bribing four.

Rizzo, who is currently jailed on a bond violation for intimidating a witness in the case, has agreed to forfeit $4 million as part of his punishment. He could be released on bond and allowed to report to prison on his own so that he can get his affairs in order.

U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland said he would consider granting him bond, but asked Rizzo's lawyers to make a formal written request. As for Rizzo's sentence, Cleland concluded 66 months fulfilled three goals: It punished the defendant, acts as a deterrence and promotes respect for the law.

Rizzo's bribes, the judge concluded, hurt the taxpayers most.

"The public is the victim of this kind of theft," Cleland said.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Tbaldas.