One of New Jersey’s top Democratic political consultants pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire plot that left one of his longtime associates dead in 2014, it was revealed on Tuesday.
Sean Caddle, 44, of Hamburg, appeared in federal court by videoconference Tuesday and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for hire. Federal authorities have not given a motive in the scheme, and it’s unclear how and when they became aware of the plot.
An automated message on Caddle’s cell phone said he wasn’t accepting calls. A message was also left with Caddle’s attorney.
Caddle solicited a Connecticut resident in April 2014 to commit the killing for thousands of dollars, prosecutors said. 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 said.
Prosecutors did not release the names of the victim or the suspects, but NJ.com reported the circumstances of the case matched the death of Michael Galdieri, 52, who was the son of the late former state Sen. James Galdieri.
Caddle had previously worked as a consultant to New Jersey state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who said the two spoke on the phone just before Caddle’s guilty plea went public.
“He didn’t say anything,” the longtime Union County Democrat told NJ.com. “I am stunned. This is so bizarre. I can’t believe it.”
“He was an all-star in terms of being a political operative,” Lesniak reportedly said.
Authorities said Caddle learned the following day that the victim had been murdered and he paid off the first conspirator in the parking lot of a diner in Elizabeth.
“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 a $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.
According to court documents, Caddle provided information to authorities in late September, about a month before he signed a plea agreement. In exchange, the government agreed to drop two additional charges related to the murder-for-hire plot and will seek a prison sentence of between 12 1/2 and 25 years, according to the documents.
“The most bizarre thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. No … indication whatsoever,” Lesniak said in a phone interview with the Associated Press. “He led a double life. While he was running campaigns for me — a lot of them very successful — he was arranging a murder.”
Lesniak is considered a top Democratic Party powerbroker in the state, having previously served as New Jersey Democratic State Chairman.
NJ.com said Michael Galdieri had also worked on the campaign of former state Assemblyman Lou Manzo and on Bret Schundler’s run for Jersey City mayor in 1993.
The Horn News and the Associated Press contributed to this article