2 Men Dumped 'Truck's Worth Of Garbage' In Pine Barrens, Convicted: DA

MANORVILLE, NY — Two men have been convicted after dumping a "truck's worth of garbage" into the Long Island Pine Barrens, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

They were ordered to pay $15,000 in combined fines, the DA said.

Marvin Sandoval, 29, of Ronkonkoma, and Charles Weiss, 33, of Coram, pleaded
guilty to dumping a pile of construction waste and household debris in a remote wooded area
within the protected Long Island Central Pine Barrens Region, in the Riverhead section of Manorville, Tierney said.

According to court documents and the defendants’ admissions during their guilty plea allocutions, on November 6, 2024, Weiss and Sandoval, as part of a hired job, loaded a U-Haul box truck with construction waste and household debris and then drove into a remote wooded area within the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Region, where they dumped the contents of the truck onto the forest floor. The materials they dumped consisted of pieces of wood furniture, used paint cans, paint rollers, shower doors, chandeliers, large pieces of styrofoam, a sink, a granite countertop, tools, and multiple bags of household garbage, Tierney said.

Their conduct was uncovered by two civilian witnesses who had the "good conscience
and initiative" to contact law enforcement, Tierney said.

A joint investigation between the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Suffolk County Police Department, Suffolk County Park Rangers, and the Town of Riverhead Police Department identified Weiss and Sandoval, who had solicited a job of cleaning up a house for a $1,000 fee and then, instead of properly disposing of the materials, selected the Pine Barrens as their dump site, Tierney said.

The pair was quickly called back to the site by law enforcement and directed to remediate the dumping, the DA said.

On February 19, Weiss pleaded guilty to the charge of violating section 433-6 of the Suffolk
County code — the Evergreen Law — before Riverhead Town Justice Court Judge Sean Walter and
was ordered to pay $7,500 in fines, Tierney said.

He was represented by Brandon Abbattiello, who could not immediately be reached for a request for comment.

On Tuesday, Sandoval pleaded guilty to the charge of violating the Evergreen Law Walter and
was ordered to pay $7,500 in fines, the DA said.

He was represented by Daniel Rodgers, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

Per the Evergreen initiative, the Good Samaritans who reported the dumping will be receiving
their monetary awards, the DA said.

In December 2023, Tierney, County Executive Ed Romaine, and Sheriff Errol Toulon, along with leadership of the New York State Police, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Suffolk County Park Rangers, Long Island Pine Barrens Law Enforcement Commission, and Crime Stoppers, announced the Suffolk County Evergreen Initiative — a collaborative plan to curb illegal dumping on county property and within the Central Pine Barrens Region by ramping up and coordinating enforcement, imposing harsher fines, and enhancing civilian incentive to report dumpers.

In early 2024, the Suffolk County Legislature amended Suffolk County code to raisethe maximum fines for dumping in the Pine Barrens Region to $15,000 for individuals and $25,000 for corporations, the DA said. It additionally mandated that 33 percent of fines collected from convictions under the statute would be remitted to members of the public who provided information leading to the arrest and conviction of offenders. The award was designed to spur the interest and assistance of the public in identifying and preventing illegal dumping in the largely unsurveilled area, Tierney said.

"Suffolk will not tolerate illegal dumping," Tierney said. "My office will protect every square inch of natural space in this county and will respond with swift and aggressive prosecution whenever it is threatened."