Two Newton men have pled guilty on charges of violating the Solid Waste Act and falsifying claims to three Massachusetts cities. 

According to a press release issued yesterday by the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley, the two men operated a landscaping supply company that improperly disposed of municipal waste as well as provided false invoices and weight slips to the cities of Cambridge, Lawrence and Chelsea.

John Toyias, 45, and Charles Garabedian, 62, both of Newton, are proprietors of Jayco Landscaping Supply Co., of Waltham. In 2007, the city of Cambridge hired Jayco to haul away municipal waste--including street sweepings--to a specific disposal area outlined in a contract between the city and Jayco.

The contract also specified that the landscaping company had to provide weight slips for the amount of waste hauled away and disposal slips for payment to the city.

Following an investigation by the Cambridge Police Department and the Massachusetts Environmental Crimes Strike Force, authorities found Jayco was dumping the waste at their own facility in Waltham and improperly mixing it with other waste. In addition, the company was providing false weight slips and invoices to the city--some of which were for loads that were never transported.

The investigation also returned findings that showed Jayco providing similar false documents to the city of Lawrence and Chelsea.

"This enterprise fraudulently posed as a reputable business that was engaged in the safe disposal of street sweepings when, in fact, they were cheating their customers and profiting from the illegal co-mingling of this material, in a way that put the public and the environment at risk," said MassDEP Commissioner Laurie Burt in the press release. 

Last week, all pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court, with Jayco having 10 counts of violating the Solid Waste Act., Toyias one count and Garabedian one count. 

Jayco also pleaded guilty to the charge of six counts of presentment of false claims for the city of Cambridge, two counts for the city of of Chelsea and two counts for the city of Lawrence.

Garabedian also pleaded guilty to one count of presentment of false claims and Toyias pled guilty to an additional charge of conspiracy to present false claims.

According to the press release, Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup sentenced Toyias to six months in the House of Correction upon the completion of a federal prison sentence on an unrelated matter. He will also have to serve three years of supervised probation.

Garabedian will serve 18 months probation in addition to 100 hours of community service. Rup also said Garabedian will not be allowed to work at Jayco more than 11 hours per week.

Rup's decision also requires Jayco to pay $100,000 to the Commonwealth in addition to a three-year probation. During the first year of probation, the company will not be allowed to participate in public bids, the release said.

The defendants were initially indicted on March 25 of this year and arraigned on April 13. Garabedian pled guilty on Nov. 22 while Jayco and Toyias plead guilty on Nov. 24.