N.J. political operative admits to murder-for-hire plot

A campaign consultant for powerful New Jersey Democratic politicians has pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire plot that led to the 2014 fatal stabbing of a Jersey City man who was a longtime associate of his, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Sean Caddle, 44, who previously worked with former State Sen. Ray Lesniak and U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and other North Jersey politicians, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez to a single count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

Caddle, of Hamburg Borough in Sussex County, remains free on $1 million unsecured bond but is restricted to home detention with electronic monitoring, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said in a statement. Caddle faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

Prosecutors did not name the victim in a court filing that offered few details, but said the fatal stabbing occurred in a Jersey City apartment that was then set on fire on May 22, 2014.

On that same date, however, Michael L. Galdieri, 52, who also worked in politics and was the son of the late State Sen. James A. Galdieri, was fatally stabbed in a Jersey City apartment that was then torched.

Prosecutors, who did not mention a motive, described the victim as a longtime associate of Caddle who had worked for him on various political campaigns.

Prosecutors said Caddle in April 2014 solicited a Connecticut resident to commit the murder and paid that person several thousand dollars in cash up front. That person, identified only as “CC-1,” then recruited a “longtime accomplice” from Philadelphia, identified as “CC-2.”

A day after the murder, Caddle met with CC-1 in the parking lot of a diner in Elizabeth, N.J., and paid “thousands of dollars,” which CC-1 shared with his accomplice, prosecutors said.

Lesniak could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Politico, however, reported that Lesniak said in a phone interview Tuesday evening that he had been working on a project with Caddle but declined to elaborate.

“I just spoke to him today. He didn’t say anything. Amazing,” Lesniak told Politico. “He’s an immense political talent. It’s so hard to believe.”

Sellinger, the U.S. attorney, said in a statement: “This was a callous and violent crime, and this defendant is as responsible as the two men who wielded the knife. There is no more serious crime than the taking of another person’s life. The defendant has admitted arranging and paying for a murder by two other people. His admission of guilt means he will now pay for his crime.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. said in a statement: ”Today’s guilty plea will bring some sense of closure to the victim’s family who have been left to wonder — for nearly eight years — who murdered their loved one. This should serve as a warning to criminals and potential criminals, alike — while you are going about your life, thinking you ‘got away with it,’ the FBI is piecing together the facts that will serve as your undoing.”