New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
The co-owner of a trash company was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with defrauding the operator of the Fall River Landfill out of approximately $463,000 in disposal fees.
Stephen P. Aguiar Jr, 47, of Westport, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to one year and one day in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $463,407. In April 2017, Aguiar pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud.
Aguiar was one of the owners and operators of Cleanway Disposal & Recycling, Inc., a trash removal and recycling company, and JS Aguiar Enterprises, Inc., a construction and equipment rental company, which were both located in Westport. Aguiar contracted with the company operating the Fall River Landfill to dispose of trash collected from his private clients in Fall River for one rate, and to dispose of trash collected from his private clients outside of Fall River for a higher rate. Aguiar also contracted with the City of Fall River to collect trash from the Fall River Housing Authority (FRHA) and dispose of the trash at the landfill. The company operating the landfill allowed the City of Fall River to dispose of trash collected from FRHA properties at no charge. Between 2009 and 2014, Aguiar misrepresented the origin of a significant portion of the trash he disposed at the landfill. In some instances, Aguiar claimed he was disposing trash from the FRHA, when in fact he was disposing trash collected from his private clients. In other instances, Aguiar claimed he was disposing trash collected from private clients inside of Fall River, when in fact he was disposing trash collected from private clients outside of Fall River. Aguiar thereby defrauded the operator of the Fall River Landfill of approximately $463,000 in revenue.
