Second criminal trial could be avoided in utilities scandal

Dec. 6—A second criminal case involving two former utilities officials appears close to being resolved after a hearing Friday in Hartford federal court, 12 days before they must report to prison on their theft convictions in the first case.

Former Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative CEO Drew Rankin, 63, and former CMEEC board of directors and Norwich utilities commission chairman James Sullivan, 58, agreed to a proposed pretrial diversion program that calls for no additional prison time or probation time but requires each to pay CMEEC $41,574.89 in restitution.

The agreement was presented to U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford federal court Friday. Richardson is recommending that the court accept the agreement, but the trial judge, Jeffrey A. Meyer, must give final approval.

Rankin and Sullivan faced felony charges of theft from a program receiving federal funds and conspiracy for allegedly trying to hide $103,832 in personal expenses reimbursed to Sullivan using CMEEC funds by calling them lobbying expenses. Sullivan was not a registered lobbyist for CMEEC.

The eight-page agreement, not immediately made public, spells out terms calling for each defendant to adhere to the prison sentence and probation terms following their convictions in the first case. While they did not plead guilty in the second case, Rankin and Sullivan agreed that U.S. attorneys likely have enough evidence to prove their case in a trial.

In the first criminal case, Rankin, Sullivan and former Norwich Public Utilities General Manager John Bilda, 60, were convicted on one count each of theft from a program receiving federal funds for their roles in planning and attending lavish trips to the Kentucky Derby and to The Greenbrier golf resort in West Virginia in 2015.

Bilda started his six-month prison sentence Wednesday at FMC Devens, an administrative-security federal medical center and minimum-security prison in Middlesex, Massachusetts. Bilda was ordered to pay $187,400 in restitution to CMEEC for a portion of the trip costs. Bilda will have three years of probation following his sentence.

Sullivan also was sentenced to serve six months in prison followed by three years’ probation and ordered to pay $187,400 in restitution.

Rankin was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison in the first case and ordered to pay $374,400 in restitution to CMEEC, followed by three years’ probation.

Rankin and Sullivan must report to prison on Dec. 18, but the federal Bureau of Prisons has yet to inform them of their destination, Rankin’s attorney, Craig A. Raabe, told Richardson Friday.

The restitution proposed in Friday’s agreement would cover the amount of personal expenses reimbursed to Sullivan minus expenses that pertained to the Kentucky Derby and golf resort trips. Those expenses were already deemed covered in the previous restitution order, U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry told Richardson, reading from the agreement.

In the courtroom Friday, Rankin and Sullivan answered several questions posed by Richardson regarding their understanding of the agreement, but they gave no substantive statements to the court.

Both declined to comment following the hearing.

Attorneys representing CMEEC did not attend the hearing, but McGarry told the judge that the cooperative “strongly prefers this agreement” over a criminal trial that would cost the cooperative substantially more in legal expenses to pay for attorneys to represent CMEEC during the trial.

The agreement defers any criminal prosecution in the case for 18 months, and if Rankin and Sullivan follow all the requirements of the agreement, U.S. attorneys would file motions to dismiss the charges, McGarry said.

CMEEC CEO Dave Meisinger said the agency would have no comment on the proposed court agreement.

CMEEC is owned by six Connecticut municipally owned public utilities: Norwich Public Utilities, Groton Utilities, Bozrah Light & Power, Jewett City Department of Public Utilities, South Norwalk Electric and Water and Norwalk Third Taxing District.

All profit revenues generated by CMEEC are to be divided among the members to be used to stabilize electric rates for customers.

c.bessette@theday.com