Labeling former landfill operator William Fiore a 'danger to society,' an Allegheny County judge on Tuesday nonetheless released him from prison five months early. Fiore, 75, formerly of Elizabeth Township, walked out of the Allegheny County Courthouse a free man, surrounded by his girlfriend, a brood of grandchildren and great-grandchildren and others. Fiore went to prison nearly 14 years ago for bribery, perjury, conspiracy and environmental crimes. 'I'm going to find me a T-bone steak with my little family,' he said. Fiore added that he plans a news conference soon to tell 'the whole story' about his case. Fiore was released directly from Common Pleas Judge Raymond Novak's courtroom. However, Novak said that Fiore still is a 'danger to society.' The judge ordered Fiore to undergo one year of house arrest with electronic monitoring for the last year of his term, and to serve nine years of probation. Novak granted a motion by defense attorneys Mark Rubenstein and Chris Eyster to modify a seven- to 14-year-term imposed in June at a resentencing, so that Fiore could be released five months early. As he walked along Forbes Avenue away from the courthouse and its controversies, Fiore was handed a wallet by Vaora Abels, his longtime girlfriend. Abels said she intended to give the wallet to him years ago on another occasion when his release from prison was anticipated. Rubenstein, who cited his client's age and health, had argued that Fiore has been 'punished beyond the intent of the court,' referring to Novak's original sentence of nine to 18 years in prison. Rubenstein said Fiore had been given bond in Westmoreland County after being granted a new trial on an unrelated charge of orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot against a state environmental official. Before granting the early release request, Novak went through the lengthy history of the case, stemming from the late 1980s. At his Municipal and Industrial Disposal Co. landfill in Elizabeth, Novak said Fiore operated 'an inverted gold mine, but instead of extracting gold, was placing residual waste into the earth at great profit.' Rather than take steps to follow the law when the landfill began to leak dangerous materials from mills into the water supply, the judge said Fiore manipulated, bribed officials, committed perjury and engaged in 'dangerous environmental practices.' 'We don't know what injuries were caused by the discharges ... the carcinogens ingested by children and the health effects caused by the waste, we will never know,' Novak said. In addition, the state is asking the Pennsylvania Superior Court to reconsider its order vacating Fiore's 1993 conviction in Westmoreland County in the alleged murder-for-hire plot. Fiore has been tried twice before on a charge of trying to have a middleman to hire two people to kill Charles A. Duritsa, who at the time was regional solid-waste manager of the former Department of Environmental Resources. 'It was a tough battle and we won. Now we start work on clearing the record in the other case. We're going to Westmoreland County, then we'll get rid of that one,' a jubilant Fiore said outside the courtroom. Robert Baird can be reached at (412) 391-8650.

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