Former Connecticut lawmaker to be sentenced for coronavirus assist thefts

HARTFORD, Conn. — A former Connecticut state consultant is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for stealing greater than $1.2 million from town of West Haven – most of it in federal coronavirus-related assist – and utilizing a superb chunk of it to gas his playing dependancy.

Michael DiMassa, 32, a West Haven Democrat, may get greater than 4 years in jail underneath federal sentencing tips. He is asking Judge Omar Williams for leniency.

“Mr. DiMassa suffered from a debilitating gambling addiction at the time of the offense,” his lawyer, John Gulash, wrote in a court docket submitting, “and his essentially unfettered access to a deep pool of federal funds and total lack of impulse control facilitated his precipitous downward spiral.”

The lawyer in contrast DiMassa to Howard Ratner, the gambler performed by Adam Sandler within the film “Uncut Gems.” He stated he guess on issues as frivolous as how lengthy the nationwide anthem would take to carry out on the Super Bowl, or what coloration Gatorade can be poured on the successful coach.

He did a lot of his playing and betting on the Mohegan Sun on line casino in japanese Connecticut.

At the time of the thefts, which started in mid-2020, DiMassa was each a state consultant and an aide to the West Haven City Council with authority to approve reimbursements for coronavirus-related bills. He pleaded responsible in November to a few counts of wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and others billed West Haven for authorized, lobbying and consulting providers that have been by no means offered.

DiMassa and a enterprise companion, John Bernardo, additionally a former West Haven metropolis worker, pilfered almost $637,000, prosecutors stated.

Bernardo pleaded responsible to wire fraud and was sentenced to 13 months in jail in March.

In a second scheme, DiMassa and one other enterprise proprietor, John Trasacco, conspired to submit fraudulent invoices from Trasacco’s firms to town, netting almost $432,000 in COVID-19 assist, with almost all of it going to Trasacco. Trasacco was sentenced to eight years in jail in March after a jury convicted him of fraud.

The ultimate conspiracy concerned DiMassa and his spouse, Lauren DiMassa, and the theft of almost $148,000, authorities stated. The couple submitted phony requests for funds by town associated to a youth violence prevention program. The pilfered funds weren’t federal coronavirus assist.

Lauren DiMassa, who’s pregnant with the couple’s second baby, pleaded responsible final 12 months and was sentenced in March to 6 months in jail. She lately reported to jail.

Federal prosecutors are searching for a jail sentence within the federal tips vary for Michael DiMassa and wish the decide to order him to pay greater than $1 million in restitution to West Haven.

“The defendant was a public official elected to serve his constituents,” prosecutors wrote of their sentencing paperwork. “Instead, he completely betrayed that trust by stealing public funds for his own benefit.”

DiMassa resigned from the Legislature and town of West Haven after his arrest in 2021.