Ex-political consultant who admitted role in murder-for-hire scheme was permitted to attend mother’s funeral last week

Sean Caddle, the former New Jersey political consultant who admitted his role in a murder-for-hire scheme, was permitted to leave his Sandyston home for nearly eight hours on Friday to attend his mother’s funeral.

Diane Caddle suffered an apparent heart attack while driving in Franklin Borough on February 27 and was pronounced dead shortly after at Newton Medical Center.  She was 72.

U.S. District Court Judge John Michael Vazquez signed an order allowing Caddle, under house arrest since January 2022, to join his wife and children at a funeral service in Colonia and then for the burial at a nearby cemetery.    Caddle was permitted to leave his home at 8:15 AM for a 10 AM funeral service and was due back in Sussex County by 4 PM following a request by his attorney, Jordan Barbone.

This was the first request filed with the court seeking permission for Caddle to leave his home.

Caddle is due to be sentenced on March 22, but there are some signs this will be delayed.  A telephone conference between the Vazquez, the U.S. Attorney’s office, and Caddle’s attorneys has been scheduled for Tuesday.

Vazquez has not yet ordered the government to submit sentencing materials concerning Caddle, which occurred 20 days before he sentenced Bomani Africa, one of the men Caddle hired to murder Michael Galdieri, to 20 years in prison.

Another man who admitted to killing Galdieri, George Bratsenis, is due to be sentenced on March 29.  The government submitted those sentencing materials on February 3.

Caddle’s brother, who had been in prison with Bratsenis, introduced the two.  They met for dinner at Caddle’s home to discuss the plan.  In their letter to Vazquez, prosecutors said Caddle knew that Bratsenis had committed a murder in 1984.

Caddle hired the Bratsenis and Africa to kill Galdieri, the son of former State Sen. James Galdieri (D-Jersey City), in 2015.  Prosecutors say Caddle wanted Galdieri dead over a financial dispute.

Caddle and his wife have not paid rent on their Sandyston home since October 2022, and his landlords, Matthew and Karen Meenan, seek to evict him.   Superior Court Judge David Weaver has scheduled a trial on the eviction matter for March 28, six days after his scheduled sentencing on murder charges.