Jimmy Galante Was Released From Prison in 2014 — Where Is He Now?

The story of Jimmy Galante and his garbage empire he built in Danbury, Conn., spans through the '90s and into the early 2000s. The New York Times called him “a Danbury trash hauler suspected of mob ties” with a plot “right out of The Sopranos."

He rose to infamy after he was arrested in 2008 on multiple charges, significantly for evading the IRS for years, and was known to be involved with local mafia families to establish his business in the areas.

His story is now the subject of a new Netflix crime documentary, Untold: Crime & Penalties, releasing on the streaming service on Aug. 31. What happened to Jimmy Galante, and where is he now?

Galante built a local business empire in the garbage removal industry in Danbury, owning 25 different companies that controlled more than half of waste removal in three local counties. He was often accused of working with local mob families, specifically the Genovese crime family, to secure this control over the area.

When his son, AJ, suffered a knee injury playing hockey that took him out of the game at 17, his father compensated by buying him a minor league hockey team, dubbed the Trashers.

His hockey team did decently well, but it and his other business ventures were involved in a series of scandals over the years, eventually surmounting in Galante's arrest. He admitted to evading the IRS for years and was found to be involved in gang activity, making him infamous in the area.

In 2008, he was sentenced to five to seven years in prison for charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and defrauding the IRS. He also had to turn over his local garbage empire, which reportedly was worth millions of dollars and controlled much of the garbage disposal in the area. He also had to promise to never work in the industry again, ultimately destroying his empire.

In 2014, after serving seven years in prison, Galante was released, having served his time. He was contacted by The Atlantic for a profile in May 2018 and told the outlet the only thing he was up to was “enjoying life.”

While his son, AJ, is no longer in charge of the Danbury Trashers, he's reportedly started a boxing club close to his hometown and told The Atlantic he was attempting to make the area a reputable location for boxing, in competition “with Oxnard, Calif.”

The Danbury Trashers actually folded as a team not long after Galante's arrest. According to the outlet, AJ lost his ownership of the team following his father's arrest, as many of his possessions were also taken as assets to be forfeited with Galante's sentencing.

“The United States government came in and seized my assets, and one of the assets was the team,” he said.

It looks as though the Galante family is no longer trying to run a garbage empire, and Danbury has less association with the mafia.

Watch Untold: Crimes & Penalties drops on Netflix on Aug. 31.