• Connecticut’s attorney general and consumer protection commissioner opened an investigation into former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart’s handling of assets for a mayoral charity

• Investigators subpoenaed Stewart and M&T Bank and sent a letter of inquiry to the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain

• Stewart faces questioning under oath at a deposition

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli opened an investigation into former New Britain Republican Mayor Erin Stewart’s use of funds held by the Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund, according to a joint press release.

Investigators identified two bank accounts with identical names, according to the CT Mirror: one managed by the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain as a donor-advised fund, and a separate checking account at M&T Bank that the foundation does not oversee. Subpoenas went to Stewart and M&T Bank; a letter of inquiry went to the foundation. All three focused on the unaccounted-for checking account.

Investigators want to know whether Stewart controlled the checking account, its funding sources, and how its money was spent, according to the CT Mirror. The subpoena also requires her to answer questions under oath at a deposition.

The charity was founded by Stewart’s father, former Mayor Tim Stewart, originally to raise money for youth programs through golf tournaments. Erin Stewart continued it after taking office and expanded its scope. “It’s really become this holistic approach,” she said in a 2022 YouTube video. “It’s made a huge difference.” A golf tournament promotional video posted to her YouTube channel in April was later removed, according to the CT Mirror.

“It is our job to ensure charitable organizations adhere to all rules and regulations,” Tong and Cafferelli said in a joint statement. “This inquiry will follow the facts wherever they lead, without regard to politics or personalities.”

Stewart and her lawyer did not return requests for comment, according to the CT Mirror.

The charity investigation was the latest development in a cascade of troubles for Stewart since she ended her Republican gubernatorial campaign on May 14. An independent investigation found that the great majority of $207,076 in purchases she charged to her taxpayer-funded credit card over nearly a decade were personal and unrelated to city business, according to the Crumbie Law Group. A separate report found she collected $121,978 in separation payments investigators said she was not entitled to, according to Crumbie. The city’s total financial claims against her now appear to exceed $300,000, according to the CT Mirror.

By Kevin Coughlin

• A former Republican Derby alderman was sentenced to prison for entering the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 riots, then pardoned by President Trump before he served a day of his sentence

• Trump erased the convictions of more than 1,500 January 6 defendants on his first day back in the White House

• The Connecticut defendant had run unsuccessfully for Derby mayor just months before his sentencing

A former Connecticut Republican official who entered the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riots was sentenced to prison in 2024, then pardoned by President Trump before he served a day of his sentence.

Gino DiGiovanni Jr., a former alderman in Derby who had lost a Republican mayoral race in November 2023, was sentenced to 10 days in federal prison in April 2024 for entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the Connecticut Mirror. DiGiovanni had attended Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally that morning before making his way into the building, where he remained for roughly 13 minutes, the Mirror reported.

Prosecutors had recommended 30 days. Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg sentenced DiGiovanni on April 24 to 10 days at the federal correctional facility in Danbury, followed by 12 months of supervised release, $500 in restitution and 50 hours of community service, the Mirror reported.

At sentencing, DiGiovanni said he had accepted responsibility from the start. “From Day One, I’ve accepted responsibility for my actions,” he told the court, according to the Mirror. “I’m truly sorry for my actions that day.”

Boasberg said he was sympathetic but believed jail time was appropriate given that DiGiovanni had held elected office, the Mirror reported.

Online sleuths tracking January 6 defendants had identified DiGiovanni in fall 2022 and alerted NBC Connecticut. Footage showed him wearing a jacket bearing the name of his construction company. When reporters confronted him, he confirmed he had been inside the building.

He never reported to Danbury. On Jan. 20, 2025, his first day back in office, President Trump granted blanket clemency to more than 1,500 people who had been convicted of or were awaiting trial for January 6-related offenses, according to NPR. DiGiovanni was among them.

The pardons closed the legal cases. They did not close the record.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Erin Stewart demanded more than $205,000 in separation pay as she left office; investigators found she was only owed around $14,000

• Stewart received $121,978 before Democratic Mayor Bobby Sanchez halted payments in February

• Investigators referred the findings to state and federal authorities, citing potential fraud, larceny, embezzlement, false statements, and official misconduct

As she prepared to leave office last summer, New Britain’s Republican Mayor Erin Stewart tried to bill her own taxpayers for $205,000 in unused leave benefits -- most of which she was not entitled to, according to a report by investigators at the Crumbie Law Group.

Stewart submitted a spreadsheet on July 3 to four city officials itemizing more than a decade’s worth of leave she claimed never to have taken: 192 sick days, 78 personal days, 126 holidays, and 240 vacation days, plus $900 in longevity pay, totaling more than $208,000, according to the report.

City policy permitted nothing close to that amount for a departing elected official, investigators found. Stewart asked that any further discussion happen by phone.

“The request to discuss the matter by phone is an obvious attempt to eliminate any discussion of the issue in writing, which would leave a document trail,” the report stated.

‘Don’t you think I’m due this?’

Human resources director Linda Guard told Stewart the claim misread city policy, according to the report. Stewart pushed back. “Don’t you think I’m due this?” she asked.

When the city’s “use or lose” rules eliminated part of her claim, Stewart reduced her vacation day demand from 240 to 89 but sent Guard a letter asserting that Guard and finance director Jonathan Perugini had already confirmed the applicable contract language, according to the report. Guard had neither written nor approved the letter, the report found. She told investigators she signed it only because she feared for her job.

Stewart collected $93,008 on July 16 for vacation days and holidays, and beginning Nov. 12 the city made installment payments toward an additional $57,941 for personal and sick time, according to the report.

Democratic Mayor Bobby Sanchez stopped the payments on Feb. 4, by which point Stewart had already collected $121,978. Investigators said she was owed $14,275. No previous New Britain mayor had sought anything close to that amount, the report found.

Crumbie called for the findings to be referred to state and federal investigators, citing potential fraud, larceny, embezzlement, false statements, and official misconduct.

“Today’s report is deeply disturbing,” Sanchez said in a statement. “The questions now extend beyond what happened, to who knew about it, who approved it, and who helped make it possible.”

In early June, New Britain demanded $241,560 from Stewart to cover improper severance payments, unauthorized tuition reimbursements, and legal costs from the Crumbie investigation, and revoked a pension she had improperly claimed for herself upon leaving office, according to the CT Mirror.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Eight years after his first federal conviction, Rowland secretly worked on a 2012 Republican congressional campaign and conspired to hide his paid role by routing payments through a law firm

• A jury found Rowland guilty on seven counts in September 2014, and he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison

• President Trump pardoned Rowland for both convictions in May 2025

John Rowland left federal prison in 2005 and returned to public life. By 2012, he was breaking federal law again.

That year, Lisa Wilson-Foley was running in a Republican primary for Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District seat. Her husband Brian owned a Connecticut nursing home company and related businesses. Rowland — by then a twice-sanctioned former governor and convicted felon — proposed working on the campaign. Wilson-Foley wanted him involved but believed his felony record would generate negative publicity if his paid role became public, according to the Department of Justice.

The solution they devised was to hide the arrangement behind a fake contract. Rowland and a law office associated with Foley’s businesses signed a fictitious consulting agreement, and Foley routed $35,000 in campaign payments to Rowland through the attorney’s office to obscure their true purpose, according to the Department of Justice.

On March 31, 2014, Lisa Wilson-Foley and her husband each pleaded guilty to conspiring to make illegal campaign contributions, according to the Department of Justice. Wilson-Foley was sentenced to five months in federal prison, five months of home confinement, one year of supervised release, and a $20,000 fine. Brian Foley, who cooperated in the investigation, received three months in community confinement, three years of probation and a $30,000 fine.

At the time, Rowland was working as a conservative afternoon radio host on WTIC-1080, which hosted his blog, titled: “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.” The former Republican governor left his radio career in April, 2014, citing “some personal issues,” the CT Mirror reported.

In September 2014, a jury found Rowland guilty on seven counts, including conspiracy, falsification of federal records, and causing illegal campaign contributions, according to the Department of Justice. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

In May 2025, President Trump pardoned Rowland for both convictions, according to CT Public. Rowland said he was “very humbled and appreciative,” CT Public reported.

• Taxpayers reimbursed former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart $31,561.54 for a graduate degree program, a benefit that had never existed for any mayor or elected official in the city’s history, according to an investigative report by the Crumbie Law Group.

• The payment was okayed by Stewart, a former Republican state senator serving as her corporation counsel, the city’s human resources director and the city council president, with no record of full city council approval, according to the Crumbie report.

• Mayor Bobby Sanchez called the arrangement “a deliberate and potentially criminal effort to circumvent the rules,” according to the Hartford Courant.

New Britain’s Republican Mayor Erin Stewart billed taxpayers $31,561 for a master’s degree between 2021 and 2022, and charged her textbooks to a taxpayer-funded credit card on top of it, according to the Crumbie Law Group.

The taxpayer tab for the Republican’s textbooks and other items billed to the city credit card added up to thousands, investigators found.

No Precedent. No Council Vote.

City officials, past and present, told the Hartford Courant the arrangement was without precedent, likely ran afoul of laws governing executive compensation and was never approved by the full city council. The Crumbie report confirmed that no prior New Britain mayor had ever received tuition reimbursement, and that no other elected official in the city had either, according to the report.

Instead, a memorandum of agreement dated May 26, 2021 — signed by Stewart, her human resources director, her corporation counsel and the city council president — quietly put the arrangement in place, according to the Crumbie report. The corporation counsel who helped Stewart bill taxpayers was Gennaro Bizzarro, a former legislator and member of the Connecticut Senate Republicans.

To fund the payments, the city drew from an account originally set up for employees who opted out of health insurance coverage, later quietly updated to include “Educational Reimbursements,” according to the Crumbie report. No other city employee was ever reimbursed for educational expenses from that fund, the report found.

Former New Britain Mayor Donald DeFronzo, a Democrat who also represented the city in the state Senate, was blunt.

“To me, that is like a grand conspiracy,” DeFronzo told the Courant. “She has her appointed HR director sign it, her appointed corporation counsel sign it and she has Rosado, the city council president, sign it. The council president has no authority to commit funds on behalf of the city.”

DeFronzo said the reimbursement amounted to an effective salary increase, which is prohibited by the city charter, according to the Courant.

‘A Broader Conspiracy’

Mayor Bobby Sanchez said he was “frustrated, bewildered, and saddened” by the revelations. “This does not seem to be just a simple lapse in judgment, but represents a deliberate and potentially criminal effort to circumvent the rules that exist to protect taxpayers and ensure transparency in government,” Sanchez told the Courant. “The fact that such an arrangement could have occurred raises serious questions about whether there was a broader conspiracy involving multiple individuals who participated in, approved, or concealed these actions.”

Stewart declined to be interviewed by Crumbie investigators, according to the report.

In early June, New Britain demanded $241,560 from Stewart to cover improper severance payments, unauthorized tuition reimbursements, and legal costs from the Crumbie investigation, and revoked a pension she had improperly claimed for herself upon leaving office, according to the CT Mirror.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Waterbury Republican Mayor Joseph Santopietro was convicted in 1992 on 15 federal charges including bribery, fraud and theft of federal job training funds, and later convicted again in 2007 in a mob-related probe

• Waterbury Republican Mayor Philip Giordano, who had run for U.S. Senate, was sentenced to 37 years in federal prison for sexually abusing two young girls while in office

• Waterbury produced two Republican mayors who went to federal prison within a decade of each other

Waterbury gave Connecticut Republicans two of their most prominent mayors. Both ended up in federal prison.

Bribery. Fraud. Federal Prison.

Joseph Santopietro became Waterbury’s mayor in 1985 at 26, the youngest person to hold the office. Federal prosecutors later said he wasted little time before taking advantage of it, collecting more than $170,000 in developer bribes over three years, according to the New York Times.

A jury convicted Santopietro on 15 counts in 1992. The charges included bribery and fraud, and prosecutors showed that money set aside for job training and homeless services had been diverted to pay for personal trips to Atlantic City and the Virgin Islands, according to WTNH. He received a nine-year federal prison sentence.

Eight years after leaving prison, Santopietro faced federal charges again. He was among 29 people charged alongside a reputed mob boss and a trash-hauling company owner in a federal investigation into organized crime’s grip on the industry in Connecticut and New York, according to NBC News. Santopietro, who had been working as a consultant for one of the hauling companies, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. A federal judge sentenced him to five years’ probation.

Child Sexual Abuse. Federal Prison.

Philip Giordano served three terms as Waterbury’s Republican mayor from 1996 to 2001. He also ran as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2000, losing to Joe Lieberman. The following year he was arrested, and in 2003 a federal jury convicted him of sexually abusing two young girls while he held office. He received a 37-year federal prison sentence. Years later, he pleaded no contest to state charges arising from the same conduct and received an 18-year state prison sentence to run concurrently with his federal term, NBC News reported.

Two Republican mayors. Two federal prisons. One city.

• Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart used her taxpayer-funded credit card to bankroll her political ambitions, charging a private club membership, campaign flights and campaign equipment to taxpayers, according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

• Stewart flew to Washington with her campaign manager on the taxpayer dime in April 2025. Her travel companion was simultaneously on the payroll of Connecticut’s Senate Republican caucus, according to the CT Mirror.

• Two microphones purchased on Stewart’s taxpayer-funded card appear in her campaign videos. One was never found after she left office, according to the Crumbie report.

The expenses that Connecticut Republican Erin Stewart charged to taxpayers did not stop at her groceries and her family parties. According to the Crumbie Law Group, the GOP mayor also put political spending on the taxpayer tab.

She Joined a Private Club. Taxpayers Paid.

In 2017, with an eye on the governor’s office, Stewart joined The Hartford Club, an exclusive Hartford social club, according to the CT Mirror. The membership was in her personal name, but taxpayers footed the bill, according to the report. Over four years, taxpayers paid $19,260.67 in dues, dining and other costs, according to the Crumbie report.

More than $2,400 of it was logged as “office supplies.” When her reelection campaign held a fundraiser at the club in September 2017, taxpayers picked up that tab too, the report said.

Taxpayers Flew Her Campaign Manager to Washington

In April 2025, Stewart’s taxpayer-funded card was charged $1,314.76 for two plane tickets to Washington, according to the Crumbie report. One was for Stewart. The other was for John Healey, her future campaign manager, who at the time was also on the payroll of Connecticut’s Senate Republican caucus, serving as chief of staff to Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, according to the CT Mirror.

Stewart later told the Republican State Central Committee the trip was to endorse Trump’s Executive Order 14241, which made it easier to mine and burn coal, and to seek a presidential endorsement for her gubernatorial campaign, according to the report.

Campaign Equipment, Purchased by Taxpayers

In July 2024, Stewart’s taxpayer-funded card bought a FIFINE XLR/USB dynamic microphone on Amazon, according to the Crumbie report. In February 2025, a second microphone, a $371.16 DJI Mic 2 wireless lavalier, followed, according to CT Insider. Both appeared in her campaign videos, the report said. When she left office in November 2025, investigators searched for the FIFINE. It was gone.

She Even Billed Them for Political Bumper Stickers

In November 2021, taxpayers were charged $39.34 for custom bumper stickers reading “#teamstewart21,” according to CT Insider.

In early June, New Britain demanded $241,560 from Stewart to cover improper severance payments, unauthorized tuition reimbursements, and legal costs from the Crumbie investigation, and revoked a pension she had improperly claimed for herself upon leaving office, according to the CT Mirror.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart used her taxpayer-funded credit card to fund a series of family birthday parties, logging bounce houses, party decorations, and catered food as “office supplies,” according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

• The parties included a Peppa Pig-themed extravaganza for her daughter’s second birthday, a black-and-gold 40th birthday celebration for her husband, and an Italian-themed first birthday for her son, all paid for by taxpayers, the report found.

• Stewart’s own birthday dinners — $361 at an Italian restaurant in 2022 and $531 at the Capital Grille in 2023 — were also charged to taxpayers and logged as “working lunches,” according to the Crumbie report.

For years, New Britain taxpayers picked up the tab for Erin Stewart’s family birthday parties, according to the Crumbie Law Group report. The former Republican mayor logged bounce houses, party decorations and catered food as “office supplies.”

Peppa Pig, Courtesy of Taxpayers

One example involved Stewart’s daughter’s second birthday. In the weeks before the July 25, 2022 party, Stewart charged a series of Amazon purchases to her taxpayer-funded card, all logged as “Office Supplies,” according to the report, published by WTNH.

The items included a girl’s tropical print dress, Peppa Pig stickers, a bubble bottle set, an adjustable balloon column, tropical palm leaf napkins, pink plastic tablecloths and an inflatable bounce house, the report said.

Six days before the party, she used the card to order sparkling water, juice, sports drinks and chips from Costco through Instacart, the report said. Investigators identified nearly $400 in purchases tied directly to the party, according to the report. Investigators matched the purchases to photos Stewart posted on Facebook showing the party, including the Peppa Pig character, the balloon column, the tablecloths and her daughter wearing the tropical print dress, the report said.

‘Let’s Make 40 Great Again’

Earlier that same year, in late February and early March 2022, Stewart charged a series of Amazon purchases to her taxpayer-funded card in the weeks before her husband Domenico Mutone’s 40th birthday on March 18, according to the report. The items, logged as “supplies” and shipped to her home, included 40th birthday candles, black and gold birthday napkins, prank toilet paper, a balloon arch, party balloons, a vest, T-shirts, swim trunks and a fitted baseball cap for a man, according to the report. Also included: a “Let’s Make 40 Great Again” birthday card. The total identifiable cost was just over $220, the report found.

The Italian-Themed First Birthday

For her son’s first birthday in October 2024, Stewart charged Amazon purchases for Italian-themed party decorations to her taxpayer-funded card, all logged as “office supplies,” according to the report. Stewart’s Instagram posts from the party showed a cake topped with a small Italian flag and a red “one” decoration, items the report identified as matching the Amazon purchases. Stewart also charged $117.02 to her taxpayer-funded card through Instacart on the day of the party, the report said, but provided no documentation for what she bought.

The Pre-K Graduation Party

In June 2025, with her daughter finishing pre-kindergarten, Stewart used her taxpayer-funded card to buy children’s books, watercolor paint and graduation balloons on Amazon, all logged as “office supplies,” according to the report. The same day, she ordered party-quantity food from Costco through Instacart, including four pounds of buffalo wings, a rotisserie chicken, tortellini pasta salad and a vegetable tray, the report said. The Costco order came to $393.79, but after Instacart fees, the taxpayer credit card was billed $505.78, according to the report.

Her Own Birthday, Too

The Republican mayor forced New Britain taxpayers to pick up the tab for her birthday as well. On March 4, 2022, her taxpayer-funded card was charged $361.09 at Denovellis Italian restaurant, according to the Crumbie report. On March 4, 2023, it was charged $531.62 at the Capital Grille, the report said. Both were logged as “working lunches,” according to CT Insider.

• Rowland’s co-chief of staff was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in 2006 for accepting cash, gifts and gold coins from a contractor in exchange for rigging state bids

• A former Rowland deputy chief of staff pleaded guilty to the same scheme; the New York Times reported his corruption included cash for a new car, limousine rides, hotel stays and use of a 65-foot yacht

• The Rell administration’s DMV was struck by a license fraud scandal in which state police arrested multiple employees for selling fraudulent Connecticut driver’s licenses for cash

John Rowland resigned on July 1, 2004. The criminal prosecutions he left behind took years to resolve, landing entirely on the next governor’s watch.

Republican Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell inherited the governorship and the aftermath.

Peter N. Ellef, Rowland’s co-chief of staff, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to rigging state contracts in favor of contractor William Tomasso, who had paid him off with cash and other bribes over the course of years, according to the New Haven Independent.

Lawrence Alibozek, a former deputy chief of staff to Rowland, had already pleaded guilty to his role in the same scheme. The New York Times reported that the bribes started in 1997 with $9,500 in cash so he could buy a car and grew from there into years of luxury travel, yacht trips and hotel stays at the contractor’s expense. He was sentenced to home confinement, probation and community service, and ordered to repay the state.

The Rell administration had its own chapter. Beginning in 2005, state police arrested multiple Connecticut DMV employees for bribery and fraud in connection with a scheme to sell fraudulent driver’s licenses for cash, according to state police.

When Rell left office in January 2011 and Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy took over, the new administration moved to protect state records. Rell-era email backups were set to be automatically deleted within 60 days under standard state IT policy. Malloy signed an executive order to preserve them before the window closed, CT News Junkie reported.

Rowland went to prison. His aides were still being sentenced two years after he left. The criminal cases that began inside the Rowland administration ran well into someone else’s term.

By Kevin Coughlin

• New Britain’s tax collector spent years backdating tax payments to benefit herself and favored taxpayers at the direction of then-Mayor Erin Stewart’s office, according to a city-commissioned investigation.

• Stewart’s chief of staff personally delivered checks from a well-connected tax delinquent to the tax collector, some late. A note in city records described the arrangement as a “1 time courtesy per mayor,” according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

• When confronted about the scandal, Stewart claimed on television that she had been offered bribes “all the time” as mayor and never reported them, as state law requires, according to the CT Mirror

New Britain’s Republican mayor ran a tax collector’s office where favored taxpayers got their bills quietly manipulated, according to a city-commissioned investigation, and where New Britain’s own cleaning staff refused to set foot inside, afraid they’d be blamed when money went missing.

‘Per Mayor’

The Crumbie Law Group, hired by Democratic Mayor Bobby Sanchez, found that tax collector Cheryl Blogoslawski had spent a decade manipulating city tax records to backdate late payments, wiping out the 18% annual interest Connecticut law requires, according to the report published by FOX 61.

The beneficiaries included the tax collector, favored constituents, and at least one well-connected property owner who owed the city substantial back taxes, the report said.

That property owner, identified only as “Taxpayer 1,” received special treatment with the direct involvement of Stewart’s office, according to the report. Stewart’s chief of staff personally delivered Taxpayer 1’s checks to Blogoslawski, the report said. Some of those checks were undated while others were past due. A note left in the city’s tax system after one transaction captured the arrangement plainly: “1 time courtesy per mayor,” the report said.

It was not a one-time courtesy, the report concluded. According to the report, the chief of staff told investigators that anything he did regarding Taxpayer 1 “was either at the mayor’s direction or with her knowledge.”

Two city employees reported the scheme to Stewart’s office, according to the report. They were told it would be looked into. It never was. In January 2024, investigators found that more than $246,000 had been left sitting on top of the safe and that cleaning staff refused to enter the office, not wanting to be blamed if any of it went missing.

‘All the Time’

Attempting damage control on television, Stewart instead made things worse. Asked by WTNH anchor Dennis House whether anyone had ever offered her something in exchange for a favor, Stewart said “a hundred percent” and described being offered bribes “all the time” as mayor, none of which she reported, according to the CT Mirror. Connecticut law requires elected officials to report bribe offers.

Stewart later told the CT Mirror she had been referring to constituents asking for help paying their taxes, not actual bribes. Sanchez was not impressed.

“Apparently she knew about this,” Sanchez told the CT Mirror. “What did she do about it?”

Connecticut State Police have opened a criminal investigation, the Hartford Courant reported. The matter has been referred to state prosecutors, according to the CT Mirror.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Senate Republican Minority Leader Lou DeLuca pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor threatening charge in 2007 after soliciting a Danbury trash hauler with organized crime ties to confront a man he believed had abused his granddaughter

• DeLuca received a suspended sentence and resigned from the Senate rather than face expulsion

• The trash hauler DeLuca turned to was later convicted of federal racketeering and admitted to paying mob tax to a Genovese crime family boss

  

Lou DeLuca was the top Republican in the Connecticut Senate. In June 2007, he pleaded guilty to a threatening charge after asking a man with organized crime ties to arrange for someone to confront his granddaughter’s husband.

DeLuca had been serving as Senate Republican Minority Leader when, at a diner meeting in April 2005, a Danbury trash hauler named James Galante passed him a handwritten note, according to CBS News. The note asked whether DeLuca wanted someone to “pay a visit” to a man he believed was physically abusing his granddaughter. DeLuca said yes and provided the man’s name and address, CBS News reported.

On June 1, 2007, law enforcement arrested DeLuca. Three days later, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor second-degree conspiracy to commit threatening, according to CBS News. He was sentenced to six months suspended and a fine. When the Senate moved toward an expulsion proceeding, DeLuca resigned.

Galante was no ordinary businessman. By the time DeLuca’s case became public, Galante was already facing 72 federal counts including racketeering, tax fraud, and extortion stemming from an FBI investigation into organized crime’s control over the trash-hauling industry in Connecticut and New York, according to CBS News. Federal prosecutors said Galante had paid tens of thousands of dollars in quarterly mob tax to a Genovese crime family boss.

In June 2008, Galante pleaded guilty to federal racketeering conspiracy charges and agreed to forfeit 25 trash-hauling companies worth more than $100 million, according to the Department of Justice. The same federal investigation also produced charges against Joseph Santopietro, the former Waterbury Republican mayor whose earlier corruption conviction was covered earlier in this series.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Republican Erin Stewart wrote to New Britain officials requesting a partial pension she calculated at 35% of her salary, a benefit that does not exist in the city’s charter, according to the CT Mirror.

• The city’s charter entitles elected officials to a pension only after 20 years of service. Stewart served 14 years, the Mirror reported.

• Stewart also signed a memorandum of understanding promising the same kind of nonexistent partial pension to former tax collector Cheryl Blogoslawski, the CT Mirror reported.

With eleven days left in her final term, Republican Erin Stewart wrote to the city’s human resources director on October 31, 2025, requesting a “deferred partial retirement pension,” according to the CT Mirror. There was one problem: the benefit she was requesting did not exist.

The Charter Was Clear

Under the city charter, only elected officials who complete 20 years of service are entitled to a pension, set at half their salary. Nothing in the charter addresses officials who fall short of that threshold, according to the CT Mirror. Stewart served 14, two on the school board and 12 as mayor, the CT Mirror reported.

That did not stop her from attempting to secure a made-up benefit courtesy of taxpayers. Stewart calculated that her 14 years of service entitled her to 35% of her $112,475 mayoral salary, according to the CT Mirror. The response came quickly. Three days later, a city benefits administrator had processed the request, calculating a gross annual pension benefit of $39,366, payable beginning May 4, 2042, the CT Mirror reported.

When asked why she sought a benefit that had no legal basis in the city charter, Stewart told the CT Mirror: “Why wouldn’t I?”

She Had Already Done It for Someone Else

Stewart’s pension request was not her first foray into inventing benefits that did not exist. In June 2024, she signed an agreement with tax collector Cheryl Blogoslawski promising a partial pension worth 40% of Blogoslawski’s $79,666 salary, after 16 years of service, according to the CT Mirror. Blogoslawski’s elected position had been eliminated by a charter revision in 2023, the CT Mirror reported.

Once Blogoslawski was fired by Democratic Mayor Bobby Sanchez in April 2026, she filed a request to begin collecting the pension. The Sanchez administration signaled it did not intend to honor the agreement, according to the CT Mirror.

Both the Blogoslawski MOU and Stewart’s own pension request were referred to independent investigators, the CT Mirror reported.

“I have been clear from day one: there cannot be one set of rules for the well-connected and another for everyone else,” Sanchez said, according to the CT Mirror.

In early June, New Britain demanded $241,560 from Stewart to cover improper severance payments, unauthorized tuition reimbursements, and legal costs from the Crumbie investigation, and revoked a pension she had improperly claimed for herself upon leaving office, according to the CT Mirror.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Connecticut Republican Party treasurer Gary Schaffrick was convicted on charges of risk of injury to a minor after being arrested in 2016 for allegedly bathing naked with a young boy

• Republican congressional candidate Thomas Gilmer dropped out of a 2020 primary the night before the election after being arrested on charges related to a 2017 attack on a former girlfriend

• Connecticut Republican Party Chairman J.R. Romano had been told months before Gilmer’s arrest about a video depicting the alleged attack, but the party still endorsed him at its nominating convention

Connecticut Republicans faced misconduct allegations within their own ranks in 2016 and 2020.

Child abuse

In March 2016, Gary Schaffrick, the treasurer of the Connecticut Republican Party, was arrested in Bristol on charges of risk of injury to a minor for allegedly bathing naked with a 5-year-old boy, according to FOX61. Schaffrick resigned from his position with the party and was later convicted and sentenced to 10 years incarceration with execution suspended, followed by five years of probation.

However, according to a 2016 report from the Connecticut Post, Schaffrick continued to “play a central role behind the scenes at the state GOP” even after he was accused of bathing naked with the young child.

In fact, he served as the Connecticut Republican Party’s representative at a national Republican planning meeting even after his arrest, the Post reported.

Domestic Violence Allegations

In May 2020, the Republican State Central Committee endorsed Thomas Gilmer as its nominee for Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District. Connecticut Republican Party Chairman J.R. Romano had been told in April or May 2020 about a video depicting an alleged attack by Gilmer on a former girlfriend, according to the Hartford Courant.

On Aug. 10, 2020, Gilmer was arrested on charges of first-degree unlawful restraint and second-degree strangulation related to an assault of a former girlfriend in May 2017, according to NBC Connecticut. He dropped out of the race that night, the night before the Republican primary.

Gilmer was found guilty of first-degree unlawful restraint last May after entering a Nolo Contendere plea in New Britain Superior Court, according to the Judicial Branch website. He was sentenced to 5 years, execution suspended with three years conditional discharge.

By Kevin Coughlin

• After the births of her two children, former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart used her taxpayer-funded credit card to buy baby supplies including diapers, infant formula, wipes, pull-ups, a baby stroller umbrella and maternity clothes, according to the Crumbie Law Group report and WTNH.

• Stewart’s spending on her taxpayer-funded card increased dramatically after her children were born, rising from roughly $7,500 in her first year to nearly $40,000 in her last, according to CT Insider.

• Investigators found that baby-related purchases were logged as “office supplies” in city finance records, according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

Republican former Mayor Erin Stewart gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in July 2020, according to CT Insider. In the months that followed, baby supplies began appearing on her taxpayer-funded credit card statements, according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

Diapers, Formula and More, Logged as Office Supplies

After her daughter’s birth, Stewart began charging baby-related items to her taxpayer-funded card, according to the Crumbie Law Group report. The purchases included Pampers wipes, infant formula, a baby stroller umbrella, diapers, pull-ups and maternity clothes, according to WTNH. All were logged as office supplies in city finance records, according to the report.

Stewart gave birth to her second child, a son, in October 2023, according to CT Insider. The baby-related charges continued, the report said.

The Spending Grew

The charges on Stewart’s taxpayer-funded card climbed steadily over the years, with the sharpest increases coming after her children were born, according to CT Insider. In her first year using the card, roughly $7,500 was charged. By her final full year in office, the figure had grown to nearly $40,000, CT Insider reported.

The baby supply charges were part of more than $207,000 Stewart ran up on her taxpayer-funded card over nine years, nearly 60% of it with no supporting documentation, according to the Crumbie Law Group report. Investigators found evidence of roughly $2,000 in reimbursements across the entire period, which the report called an “insignificant fraction” of her total charges.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Republican State Treasurer Paul Silvester was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for steering $527.5 million in state pension investments to private funds in exchange for kickbacks

• Ben Andrews, a Republican on Rowland’s 1998 ticket, was convicted in connection with the same pension bribery scheme and sentenced to 30 months in prison

• Eight days after Rowland’s resignation, Gov. Jodi Rell ousted seven senior officials — among them four who were leaving under their own clouds of controversy

John Rowland’s corruption was not a solo act. The people around him were busy too.

In October 2000, Ben Andrews — the Republican candidate for Secretary of the State on Rowland’s 1998 reelection ticket — was charged with bribery, racketeering, fraud, money laundering and witness tampering in connection with a scheme involving hundreds of millions of dollars in state pension investments, according to the SEC. It was the second time a Republican from Rowland’s 1998 ticket had been charged in the scheme, the Hartford Courant reported.

When the charges were announced, Rowland told reporters Andrews had a “stellar resume” and cautioned against rushing to judgment, the Courant reported. Andrews was convicted three years later and sentenced to 30 months in prison, according to the SEC.

Republican State Treasurer Paul Silvester received a 51-month federal prison sentence in November 2003 for steering $527.5 million in state pension investments to five private funds in exchange for kickbacks.

When Rowland resigned on July 1, 2004, new Gov. Jodi Rell moved quickly to install her own leadership. Eight days later, she called for the resignations of seven senior Rowland officials — among them four whose departures carried their own controversy, the Hartford Courant reported.

Arthur Diedrick, the state’s economic development czar, had been involved in a controversial meeting over state funds awarded to a close Rowland friend, Robert Matthews — a meeting that became the subject of Rowland’s impeachment hearings. Diedrick testified he could not recall any details about it, the Courant reported.

Arthur Spada, the Public Safety commissioner, had seen his chief of staff arrested the week before on felony fraud charges for bilking the state thousands of dollars in improvements to a house he was renting from the state, the Courant reported.

Arthur Rocque Jr. had served as Department of Environmental Protection commissioner for seven years and spent 33 years with the agency. He announced his October retirement when Rell called for resignations, the Courant reported.

James Adams, a deputy transportation commissioner, had been the liaison responsible for awarding a Bradley International Airport parking garage contract to The Tomasso Group. Federal authorities had identified that project as one of three state jobs awarded to Tomasso entities under investigation for possible bid-rigging, the Courant reported.

Four officials. Eight days. One administration.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart ran up thousands of dollars in clothing and jewelry charges on her taxpayer-funded credit card over nine years, according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

• Investigators matched specific purchases to Stewart’s public appearances, finding dresses bought on the taxpayer-funded card showing up on her social media and on television, the report said.

• Stewart also charged what the report called “an inordinate amount of jewelry, particularly bee-themed brooches,” to taxpayers, according to the report.

Republican former Mayor Erin Stewart used her taxpayer-funded credit card to build a wardrobe, according to the Crumbie Law Group report. The purchases, logged as “office supplies,” included dresses, maternity clothing, undergarments and jewelry, according to WTNH.

The Evidence Was Hard to Miss

Investigators did not have to look far to connect the purchases to Stewart personally. At least one dress purchased on Amazon appeared on Stewart’s social media months later, according to the Crumbie report.

A blue KOJIOON maternity dress (listed on Amazon for $57) was purchased with the taxpayer-funded card in July 2023. Stewart was later spotted wearing the same dress during an appearance on WTNH’s This Week In Connecticut with host Dennis Host, the Crumbie report found.

A “Sureple Women’s retro Sleeveless Swing Casual Work Summer Party Dress with Pockets” (listed on Amazon for $34.97) was purchased using the taxpayer card in May of 2023 only to appear on the Republican mayor in picture posted to her social media account three months later, the report found.

The maternity clothing was part of a broader pattern. Stewart purchased maternity tops, maternity ruffle dresses and other pregnancy-related clothing on her taxpayer-funded card, all logged as office supplies, according to WTNH.

The Brooches

Investigators also found that Stewart had charged what the report called “an inordinate amount of jewelry, particularly bee-themed brooches,” to taxpayers, according to the report. Among the jewelry purchases were a bee and honeycomb necklace and several bee-shaped brooch pins, the report said.

The clothing and jewelry charges were part of more than $207,000 Stewart ran up on her taxpayer-funded card over nine years, nearly 60% of it with no supporting documentation, according to the report. The report said investigators did not attempt a full accounting of the clothing and jewelry charges and called for one to be done.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Republican John Rowland was elected to the state legislature at 23 and won a seat in Congress in 1984; he became governor in 1994 at 37, widely considered a rising star in national Republican politics

• State ethics authorities sanctioned Rowland twice before federal investigators closed in on his pattern of awarding state contracts in exchange for gifts and favors

• Rowland resigned in July 2004, pled guilty in December 2004, and served 10 months of a one-year federal prison sentence

John Rowland was once the Republican Party’s idea of a success story. He ended up in federal prison.

Rowland was elected to the Connecticut state legislature at 23 and won a seat in Congress in 1984. He became governor in 1994 at age 37 and was once considered a rising star in national Republican politics, CBS News reported.

The ethics problems arrived early. In his first term, surplus military equipment meant for the Connecticut State Police was diverted to Rowland associates and staff, according to Wikipedia. Rowland said he knew nothing about it.

State ethics authorities sanctioned Rowland twice: in 1997 for accepting concert tickets from subordinates, and again in 2003 for accepting cut-rate vacation lodging from state contractors. Each time, the governor minimized the conduct and continued in office.

By 2004, the pattern had become impossible to ignore. Federal investigators had identified a practice of awarding lucrative state contracts in exchange for gifts and favors, according to CBS News. Rowland resigned in July 2004 as the investigation closed in.

He pled guilty in December 2004. A judge sentenced him the following March to one year in federal prison and four months of house arrest; he served 10 months, according to CBS News.

It was not his last conviction.

By Kevin Coughlin

• Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart registered her taxpayer-funded credit card as the payment method on her personal Amazon, Costco and Instacart accounts, using it to charge $19,222.97 in Costco purchases alone over nine years, according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

• New Britain had its own Costco membership. Stewart used her personal account instead, meaning taxpayers also picked up Instacart delivery surcharges and tips, the report said.

• Because purchases ran through Stewart’s personal accounts, the city lost its tax-exempt status on those transactions, leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than $15,000 in sales tax they should never have owed, according to the report.

New Britain’s city credit card program launched in 2016 with one clear rule: no personal purchases. Over the next nine years, Republican former Mayor Erin Stewart used her taxpayer-funded card to run up $19,222.97 in Costco purchases alone, according to the Crumbie Law Group report.

Her Account. Their Bill.

Stewart’s personal Costco account was linked to her taxpayer-funded card, the report said, even though New Britain maintained its own city Costco membership. She also used her personal Amazon account rather than a city account, the report said. Amazon records showed purchases were routinely delivered to Stewart’s home, not to city offices, the report found. Stewart also frequently ordered through Instacart, meaning taxpayers picked up delivery surcharges and tips on top of the purchase price, according to the report.

Between 2021 and 2025, her average monthly Costco bill ran $260.76, all charged to taxpayers, the report found.

Sales Tax

Because purchases ran through Stewart’s personal accounts, the city lost its tax-exempt status on those transactions, leaving taxpayers on the hook for sales tax they should never have owed. The report put the figure at more than $15,000, describing it as a conservative estimate.

A Tip, Courtesy of Taxpayers

On at least one occasion, Stewart charged a $15.44 Instacart delivery tip to taxpayers, according to the report.

The grocery charges were part of more than $207,000 Stewart ran up on her taxpayer-funded card over nine years, nearly 60% of it with no supporting documentation, according to the report. Investigators found evidence of roughly $2,000 in reimbursements across the entire period, which the report called an “insignificant fraction” of her total charges. The reimbursements, however small, undercut any claim that Stewart did not know she owed the money back, investigators said.

By Kevin Coughlin