Ex-Fenimore Operator Rejects 14-Year Plea Bargain

Richard Bernardi, a former operator of the Fenimore Landfill in Roxbury, has rejected a plea bargain that comes with a 14-year sentence in prison, says the Daily Record. The State Attorney General's office presented Bernardi with the plea bargain, according to the Daily Record, in exchange for a guilty plea to charges of theft, money laundering, and false representations on a government contract.

The 62-year-old Bernardi appeared at the Superior Court in Morristown on Wednesday for the indictment that was levied against him this past February, said the Daily Record. The firm that ran the 64-acre landfill, Strategic Environmental Partners, owned by Bernardi's wife, Marilyn, was also indicted this past February.

According to the story, Bernardi was charged with first-degree money laundering, making false representations for a government contract, two counts of theft by deception, and one count of theft of services, for allegedly neglecting to pay upwards of $1 million in fees to a hired firm. Strategic Environmental Partners, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Record, allegedly collected more than $5 million in tipping fees, but only placed $250 of those funds in the escrow account. For more on the story, go to the Daily Record.