Jury selection to begin in Clemente Park dumping case
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in Central Islip federal court in a $4 million racketeering lawsuit filed by Islip Town against a multitude of defendants accused of hatching an elaborate scheme to cover up illegal dumping at a Brentwood park.
Town officials filed the lawsuit in 2016 following revelations three years earlier that an estimated 40,000 tons of contaminated construction debris had been dumped on a soccer field and recharge basin at town-owned Roberto Clemente Park. The town is seeking compensation for more than $4 million in cleanup costs.
The case sparked concern that illegal dumping was rampant across Long Island, often occurring in locations such as parks and the state-protected pine barrens that typically are unused and unlit late at night.
Suffolk County last year increased fines aimed at stemming illegal dumping on county-owned lands.
The Clemente case, which came to light in late 2013 when a town park ranger reported questionable dumping at the park, led to guilty pleas by a former town parks commissioner and executives from at least two construction and recycling companies alleged to have participated in the dumping.
The town’s lawsuit relies on the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law. The law allows for civil suits against those accused of responsibility for ongoing criminal enterprises.
Islip spokesperson Caroline Smith declined to comment Friday.
When the lawsuit was filed, Smith said the town sought “reimbursement for Islip taxpayers for the costs expended by the town to remediate the park” and help with prosecuting those responsible.
The original defendants in the lawsuit included dozens of people and companies linked to dumping in Brentwood and other locations in the town, including former town Parks Commissioner Joseph J. Montuori Jr.
Court records show that Montuori and numerous other defendants — including a Brentwood church whose pastor and members allegedly hired the companies accused of the illegal dumping — have been dismissed from the case in recent years after reaching settlements with the town.
Montuori, who resigned after then-District Attorney Thomas Spota began investigating, could not be reached for comment Friday. He and an aide, Brett A. Robinson, pleaded guilty in 2016 in connection with their roles in the dumping scheme and were sentenced to conditional discharges, meaning they faced no jail time if they stayed out of legal trouble.
The remaining defendants include the owners of a Ronkonkoma construction company accused of dumping the material, court records show.
One of the owners, Thomas Datre Jr., was released from Suffolk County jail in December 2017 after completing an eight-month sentence for his role in the dumping. Datre, whom prosecutors called the dumping scheme’s “mastermind,” had pleaded guilty to four felony counts of endangering the public health, safety or the environment.
Datre could not be reached for comment Friday. Court records show he is representing himself in the lawsuit.
His parents, Thomas Datre Sr. and Clara Datre, and their company, Daytree at Cortland Square, also are among the defendants in the federal lawsuit. Criminal charges against Thomas Datre Sr. had been dismissed when his son pleaded guilty.
Andrew J. Campanelli of Merrick, who represents the elder Datres, said the town’s case was “without any merit whatsoever,” adding his clients’ names had been “dragged through the mud.”
“They basically had nothing to do with this,” Campanelli said.
Thomas Datre Sr. and his wife had helped to raise thousands of dollars for the town’s Republican Party, which has held the majority on the town board for the past five decades. Clara Datre had run an unsuccessful campaign for Islip Town supervisor as a Republican in 2007.
Court records state that settlement talks between the town and the defendants had been unsuccessful.
“There were settlement discussions, but I don’t believe the parties are going to reach any kind of agreement,” Campanelli said.
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in Central Islip federal court in a $4 million racketeering lawsuit filed by Islip Town against a multitude of defendants accused of hatching an elaborate scheme to cover up illegal dumping at a Brentwood park.
Town officials filed the lawsuit in 2016 following revelations three years earlier that an estimated 40,000 tons of contaminated construction debris had been dumped on a soccer field and recharge basin at town-owned Roberto Clemente Park. The town is seeking compensation for more than $4 million in cleanup costs.
The case sparked concern that illegal dumping was rampant across Long Island, often occurring in locations such as parks and the state-protected pine barrens that typically are unused and unlit late at night.
Suffolk County last year increased fines aimed at stemming illegal dumping on county-owned lands.
Dumping revealed in 2013
The Clemente case, which came to light in late 2013 when a town park ranger reported questionable dumping at the park, led to guilty pleas by a former town parks commissioner and executives from at least two construction and recycling companies alleged to have participated in the dumping.
The town’s lawsuit relies on the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law. The law allows for civil suits against those accused of responsibility for ongoing criminal enterprises.
Islip spokesperson Caroline Smith declined to comment Friday.
When the lawsuit was filed, Smith said the town sought “reimbursement for Islip taxpayers for the costs expended by the town to remediate the park” and help with prosecuting those responsible.
The original defendants in the lawsuit included dozens of people and companies linked to dumping in Brentwood and other locations in the town, including former town Parks Commissioner Joseph J. Montuori Jr.
Court records show that Montuori and numerous other defendants — including a Brentwood church whose pastor and members allegedly hired the companies accused of the illegal dumping — have been dismissed from the case in recent years after reaching settlements with the town.
Montuori, who resigned after then-District Attorney Thomas Spota began investigating, could not be reached for comment Friday. He and an aide, Brett A. Robinson, pleaded guilty in 2016 in connection with their roles in the dumping scheme and were sentenced to conditional discharges, meaning they faced no jail time if they stayed out of legal trouble.
The remaining defendants include the owners of a Ronkonkoma construction company accused of dumping the material, court records show.
One of the owners, Thomas Datre Jr., was released from Suffolk County jail in December 2017 after completing an eight-month sentence for his role in the dumping. Datre, whom prosecutors called the dumping scheme’s “mastermind,” had pleaded guilty to four felony counts of endangering the public health, safety or the environment.
Datre could not be reached for comment Friday. Court records show he is representing himself in the lawsuit.
Parents among defendants
His parents, Thomas Datre Sr. and Clara Datre, and their company, Daytree at Cortland Square, also are among the defendants in the federal lawsuit. Criminal charges against Thomas Datre Sr. had been dismissed when his son pleaded guilty.
Andrew J. Campanelli of Merrick, who represents the elder Datres, said the town’s case was “without any merit whatsoever,” adding his clients’ names had been “dragged through the mud.”
“They basically had nothing to do with this,” Campanelli said.
Thomas Datre Sr. and his wife had helped to raise thousands of dollars for the town’s Republican Party, which has held the majority on the town board for the past five decades. Clara Datre had run an unsuccessful campaign for Islip Town supervisor as a Republican in 2007.
Court records state that settlement talks between the town and the defendants had been unsuccessful.
“There were settlement discussions, but I don’t believe the parties are going to reach any kind of agreement,” Campanelli said.
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