Murder For Hire: NJ Political Consultant Pleads Guilty In Conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Says

NEWARK, NJ — A Sussex County man and political consultant pleaded guilty for his role in a plot to murder a fellow political consultant, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Sean Caddle, 44, of Hamburg pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Newark to one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire for his part in a conspiracy that resulted in the death of a Jersey City man in 2014, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Caddle — who is in home detention on a $1 million unsecured bond — entered his plea by video conference to U.S. District Judge John Michael Vasquez.

Bomani Africa, 61, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to co-conspiring to commit murder for hire with Caddle on Wednesday.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Caddle faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a fine of $250,000. They also said Africa faces the same penalties, with his sentencing on June 7, according to a separate news release.

Patch reached out to the U.S. attorney's office for comment.

Caddle, worked as a consultant and aide to former N.J. state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Westfield), Politico reported. Court documents did not name the person who was killed, but Politico reported that the details of the case matched the circumstances surrounding the death of Michael Galdieri, who worked with Caddle’s consulting firm.

Galdieri was the son of another former state senator, James Galdieri (D-Jersey City).

“This was a callous and violent crime, and [Caddle] is as responsible as the two men who wielded the knife,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip R. Sellinger in a statement. “There is no more serious crime than the taking of another person’s life.”

Sellinger added: Caddle "admitted arranging and paying for a murder by two other people. His admission of guilt means he will now pay for his crime.”

“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,” FBI Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. said in a statement. “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.”

Around April 2014, Caddle recruited Africa and another unidentified recruit from Connecticut to commit murder in exchange for cash, according to court documents. They met with Caddle by phone and in person and received “several thousand dollars in cash up front.”

The two men killed the person in his Jersey City apartment on May 22, 2014, stabbing him to death before setting fire to the unit, court documents said.

Caddle met the two men the next day in a diner parking lot in Elizabeth to pay them “thousands of dollars in cash as consideration for the murder of the victim,” according to Sellinger.

Read the entire federal charging document here.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.