Feds seek to block Rowland’s bid for new trial

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Prosecutors have called on a federal judge to block John G. Rowland’s request for a new trial and evidentiary hearing in his campaign fraud case, arguing that the former governor’s claim that he was denied key evidence is full of “overheated rhetoric.”

“Mr. Rowland received a fair trial in every respect,” the prosecutors wrote in a 30-page motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

The Justice Department is fighting to uphold a jury’s conviction of Rowland of entering into an off-the-books political consulting contract with former Republican congressional candidate Lisa Wilson-Foley, who used her husband’s nursing home business to funnel payments to Rowland in 2012.

The defense team of Rowland, whose sentencing has been postponed indefinitely, petitioned for a new trial in a filing last month.

It argued that it was denied evidence that a law firm had signed off on the contract between Rowland and Apple Rehab, which operates 26 nursing homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island and is owned by Brian Foley.

Prosecutors say that they didn’t suppress the information about the contract.

“If he did not know and had no reason to know this information, the ultimate issue is whether his possession of that information would have had a material effect on the jury’s verdict,” prosecutors wrote.

In a stunning recurrence for Rowland, who resigned as governor in 2005 and served 10 months in prison for accepting bribes, Rowland was convicted in September of violating federal election laws, obstruction of justice and falsifying documents.

Since Rowland is a two-time offender, the Justice Department is seeking a prison sentence of 40 to 46 months. Rowland’s legal team is pushing for a sentence of 18 months in prison, which multiple sources previously said his lawyers turned down last year when a plea deal was offered.

Prosecutors are seeking a 10-month sentence for Wilson-Foley, but her lawyers want probation. Her husband received three years of probation, with the first three months to be spent in a halfway house, and a $30,000 fine for his role in the scheme.

Neil Vigdor