I’ve covered lots of federal court trials through the years — was a key witness in one as well — but I can’t recall anything like what’s playing out in New Haven where developer James Botti is on trial for allegedly greasing Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti.
Sounds straight forward right? A developer greases a public official for favorable treatment. Except the guy the government accuses Botti of bribing isn’t in the court room. In fact, hasn’t been charged with anything. Bizarre. Why hasn’t the government charged Lauretti? Because Botti doesn’t want to cooperate with the government. The government’s case against Lauretti is thin without Botti’s help. The government won a tax conviction on Botti in a previous case, but he still wouldn’t fold. So now a jury is hearing a bunch of stuff about how business is done in Shelton by Lauretti and Botti and whole bunch of others. Lauretti’s red meat on the government barbecue but has no way of clearing his name while this plays out.
The foundation for the government’s case against Botti is work he performed on the mayor’s home which the government alleges was paid only after they read the news of former Governor John Rowland being in the same mess, and a $9,000 Christmas party Botti threw at Lauretti’s restaurant, attended by 65 people or so, as a way to keep the mayor happy. The check was made out in the name of Lauretti’s restaurant, not to the mayor himself. This stuff is peanuts compared to the Rowland case and the government’s conviction of former Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim.
Chris Halpin, one of the FBI agents working the case, is an excellent federal investigator. He worked the Ganim case. But federal prosecutors, not FBI agents, decide whether a case will be brought to trial. I gotta think Botti is a real toothache for prosecutors.
Willie Dow, Botti’s lawyer, is a seasoned criminal defense specialist. Every time he questions a witness for the government he poses the same declaration: you don’t see Mark Lauretti in the court room, do you? Nope, he’s not there. The government had a land use commissioner wired up for years secretly recording conversations he had with a variety of Shelton officials and developers. I maintain if federal agents spend a few years in any town, any city they will come up with something. What surprises me is how relatively little the government has shown in comparison to the effort. Some of it is unfair. When the government doesn’t have the evidence goods on a target to bring a charge they have a special name for that: “unindicted co-conspirator.” Translation: “we think you’re dirty, but we don’t have enough to charge you.” And a number of Shelton developers, according to the government, are part of that club.
The government may well secure a conviction of Botti, but that will come in part because boastful Botti doesn’t exactly come across as a sympathetic figure in the recorded conversations.
The closest case I can recall to this, although not a public corruption case, was the federal indictment of Bridgeport mobster Frank Piccolo and his cousin Guido Penosi accused of extorting money from entertainer Wayne Newton. In 1981, Piccolo was murdered in Bridgeport’s North End. Despite that, federal prosecutors moved ahead with the case against Penosi. Penosi’s lawyer did the only sensible thing he could do under the circumstances. He blamed the dead guy. “It was Piccolo. It was Piccolo. It was Piccolo.”
The jury agreed. Penosi was found not guilty.
What will Willie Dow do? Stay tuned.
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