Stamford Trash King Gets 18 Months for Tax Dodge

HARTFORD, CT – Wayne Margarum, Sr., 72, of Stamford, is trading in garbage trucks for a jail cell after being sentenced to 18 months in prison today for a decades-long scheme to avoid paying his taxes. U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant handed down the sentence in Hartford, followed by two years of supervised release. The case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser, exposes a blatant disregard for the law by the owner of Margarum Refuse.

For over 40 years, Margarum has run Margarum Refuse, a garbage removal service servicing roughly 600-700 clients in Stamford and parts of Westchester County, New York. Clients paid between $25 and $60 a month, a steady income stream Margarum apparently believed he could keep from the IRS. Court documents reveal a shocking truth: neither Margarum nor his business filed a single tax return from 2004 until the present day. A lifetime of skimming, apparently.

The IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division dug into Margarum’s finances, uncovering a mountain of unpaid taxes. While Margarum did manage to cough up $25,000 prior to sentencing – a paltry sum considering the scale of the fraud – he still owes a staggering $330,000 in back taxes, not even counting the accruing interest and penalties. That’s a debt that will likely haunt him long after his release.

Margarum initially pleaded guilty on May 24, 2018, to two counts of willful failure to file an income tax return. The plea wasn’t enough to save him from a substantial prison sentence, sending a clear message that tax evasion, no matter how long it goes undetected, will be punished. The government clearly wasn’t buying his excuses, if he even offered any.

Following the sentencing, Margarum, who had been released on bond, was immediately taken into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. His reign as Stamford’s trash king is officially over, replaced by a bleak stretch behind bars. This case serves as a stark reminder: everyone, even those dealing in the dirtiest of businesses, has a responsibility to pay their fair share.

The investigation and prosecution highlight the IRS’s continued commitment to pursuing tax fraud, even in seemingly local operations. This wasn’t some offshore account scheme; it was a local businessman thinking he could simply ignore his tax obligations. He was wrong. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and report on any further developments.