Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

HARTFORD -- Gov. John G. Rowland is weighing a deal that would be require him to plead guilty to an unspecified criminal charge and agree to a sentence of at least several months in a federal prison, according to a member of the legislative panel that considered impeaching him and a lawyer involved in the controversy that cost the governor his office.

The member of the House Select Committee of Inquiry - whose investigation was halted by Rowland's announcement that he would resign next week - said one of the governor's lawyers had disclosed that federal prosecutors made the "take-it-or-leave-it" offer to Rowland so he could avoid more serious charges and a potentially tougher sentence.

The lawmaker added that the offer is expected to expire soon and that a rejection by Rowland almost certainly would lead to a prompt criminal indictment.

The second source, a politically connected lawyer with a client caught in the scandal surrounding the governor, said he had learned the prosecutors had given Rowland until July 2 to decide on their offer. Meanwhile, the co-chairman of the impeachment committee, Rep. Arthur J. O'Neill, R-Southbury, said Friday that while such a deal was likely given the one prosecutors had made with antiques dealer Wayne Pratt - the straw man in the controversial purchase of Rowland's condominium in Washington, D.C. - at this point he considered his colleague's comments to be just speculation.

"It's possible, but I haven't been told by anyone that this is some sort of time-limited offer to the governor,'' O'Neill added.

Pratt in March agreed to plead guilty to a minor charge in exchange for his agreement to cooperate with federal officials investigating allegations of corruption in the Rowland administration.

The governor's criminal defense lawyer, William F. Dow III, did not return telephone calls and e-mail messages left Friday at his New Haven law office.

Dow has had several meetings with federal authorities, and one former federal prosecutor said this week that prior to the governor's decision to resign Dow had offered to have Rowland plead guilty to a minor charge provided the deal not include a jail sentence.

Rowland's legal counsel, Ross H. Garber, said Friday he would not comment "on the substance" of the comments by the impeachment committee panelist.

Similarly, it is the longstanding policy of both the U.S. attorney's office for Connecticut and the IRS, both of which have been investigating the governor, to neither confirm nor deny their probes, let alone comment on any deals offered in connection with them.

Government lawyers, however, told the Journal Inquirer in March that the federal prosecutors were paying particularly close attention to the indictment last December of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan. The lawyers cited not only the careful crafting of subpoenas issued in the Connecticut probe, but also the nature of the questions investigators had asked potential witnesses and cooperating state authorities. Ryan has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he took cash, gifts, vacations, and other favors to steer state business to and fix state leases for a friend.

The indictment specifically accuses Ryan of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, money laundering, extortion, obstruction of justice, making false statements to the FBI, and income-tax fraud as well as participating in a scheme to defraud the people of his state of "the intangible right to the honest services" of the former official.

It also alleges that as part of the conspiracy Ryan moved to terminate investigators at a state regulatory agency and reorganize it to discourage a probe of improper fund-raising activities and related official misconduct.

The lawyers cited Rowland administration proposals last year first to merge the State Ethics, State Elections Enforcement, and Freedom of Information commissions and later to keep the agencies separate but sharply reduce their personnel costs.

The 92-page Ryan indictment was "superceding," which means it incorporated charges lodged against Ryan's businessman friend, Larry Warner. It also followed the conviction of Ryan's former chief of staff in the Illinois secretary of state's office.

Federal investigators here this month notified Rowland's former co-chief of staff, Peter N. Ellef, that he should expect to be indicted this summer, The Associated Press reported.

Ellef's lawyer, Hugh Keefe, reportedly confirmed only that Ellef had been informed he was a target of the investigation.