Gifts, Lies Admitted
Gov. Rowland Acknowledges Free Work On Cottage
December 13, 2003
By JON LENDER, DAVE ALTIMARI, And EDMUND H. MAHONY Courant Staff Writers

 

Gov. John G. Rowland admitted Friday that he received thousands of dollars' worth of free work on his Litchfield vacation cottage from top state officials and from a major contractor that received more than $100 million in no-bid contracts from his administration. Thousands more in bills for improvements to the cottage - much of it by other contractors who do work for the state - went unpaid for years, according to documents released by Rowland's office. Since late September, when word began spreading that the renovations might come under scrutiny by federal investigators, Rowland or his wife wrote more than $17,000 in checks for work done in the late 1990s.

In a statement that stunned the state's political world, Rowland apologized for lying about the cottage work at a news conference Dec. 2 and vowed to "set the record straight." But within hours, credible sources were questioning whether Rowland had withheld documents that would suggest he had more personal involvement in obtaining free work than he was letting on. For the first time Friday, Rowland acknowledged publicly what had been rumored for months: That employees of one of the New Britain-based Tomasso Group's companies did free work on his cottage. Tomasso is a central focus of a burgeoning federal grand jury probe into bid-rigging by the Rowland administration.

Another key focus of that probe, former Rowland co-chief of staff Peter N. Ellef - threw thousands of dollars into the late-1990s cottage on the waterfront at Bantam Lake, Rowland acknowledged. Ellef, like Rowland, is a close friend of the Tomasso family, and, like Rowland, he denies criminal wrongdoing. Still another top Rowland aide who contributed thousands to the renovations was former deputy staff chief and Ellef confidant Lawrence Alibozek. He already has pleaded guilty in federal court to receiving bribes in exchange for steering state business to a contractor whom sources identify as Tomasso. Rowland's disclosure Friday was explosive enough to raise the possibility that he may become a formal target of a federal criminal probe, or might at least have to testify before a criminal grand jury. Neither of those things has happened in living memory to a sitting Connecticut governor. For the first time on Friday, there were prominent calls for Rowland to resign. The New London Day plans to editorialize for him to quit, The Associated Press said in an advisory to other newspapers.  And, perhaps more ominously, Rowland's three-time running mate and lieutenant governor, Jodi Rell, for the first time expressed concern about her longtime ally's actions:  "I feel sick at heart. I'm disappointed and I'm angry. But having said all those things ... there's an investigation going on and we need to complete that investigation and move forward. There is also the business of governing our state and that's what is primary in both our minds right now."  Meanwhile, Rowland may have further damaged his sagging standing with the public by admitting that he lied repeatedly last week during a press conference at which he scoffed at questions about the cottage raised in several Courant stories. Rowland is normally a smooth and poised politician, who at times disparages media coverage for what he perceives as excesses or errors, but he discarded that attitude this day - offering an unusual and abject apology.  "I regret doing this and I am sorry I did it," his statement said. "I apologize to the Capitol press corps, which deserves forthright information. But more importantly, I apologize to the citizens of Connecticut, whose trust and respect I prize above all else. I intend to keep that trust through my continued hard work over the next three years."  The documents released Friday confirm Rowland's claim that he spent about $30,000 renovating and furnishing the cottage. But more than $12,000 of that was paid since September in an apparent attempt to clean up appearances after The Courant began asking questions and rumors began circulating in political and law enforcement circles. Another check, for $5,680, was sent by Rowland's wife, Patricia, to a heating contractor who had been paid in 1999 by Ellef and Alibozek; the contractor returned Patricia Rowland's payment. Rowland kept out of public view Friday, spending most of his time at the governor's residence in Hartford, and he did not appear at the state Capitol. He sent his office's legal counsel, Ross Garber, to deliver his statement and documents to The Courant and to the AP. Garber would not comment or answer questions beyond the written material. Rowland said in his statement that he is continuing to cooperate with the more-than-year-old investigation of his administration by federal prosecutors and the FBI, and "therefore, I will have no further public comment on these issues."  The statement also said that "I have voluntarily provided all of these documents to the U.S. Attorney's office."  The picture that emerged from the documents was one of an official without much disposable income of his own - making more than $2,800 in payments per month to his ex-wife, according to one bank loan application.  Another aspect of that picture was his apparent penchant, over a span of years, for accepting expensive gifts and other benefits from friends, associates and subordinates.

A Link With Tomassos

Among the renovations performed from 1997 to 1999 at the Rowland cottage were installation of custom-made kitchen cabinets, a kitchen floor, a cathedral ceiling in the living room, a stone patio and a heating system. Two of the significant gifts for the Rowlands came in 1999. In early spring of that year, Christopher Link, of Link Mechanical Services of New Britain, installed a new propane heating system and water heater for $5,680. He was paid promptly - half by Ellef and his wife, the other half by Alibozek and his wife. In what appeared to be a belated attempt to eradicate the freebie, Patricia Rowland sent Link a check dated Sept. 25 - more than four years late - for the $5,680. On Nov. 26, the day after The Courant's first cottage story, Link sent her a refund. "After going through our records, we found that the invoice was paid in full," he wrote. Sources said Link was referred for the Rowland job by someone connected with the Tomassos, and was hired to do the work by Ellef. But one source familiar with the case said that Rowland was hardly oblivious to the process, and played a bigger role than he was letting on. Link's proposal was actually sent to Rowland for his approval and, after the work was done, Link's bill was sent to the governor, the source said. Somehow - and nobody was saying how Friday - the bill made its way to Ellef and Alibozek, who paid it. Link and his lawyer would not comment Friday. Alibozek's lawyer, William Gerace of Hartford, said, "Larry did what he did. Much of it was at others' direction and he is paying the consequences for it." Hugh Keefe of New Haven, who represents Ellef, was scornful of the cottage flap. "There are too many federal agents," he said. "There are too many federal prosecutors. And there's not enough real crime in this state to keep them busy." "And if anyone needs any proof of that ... just look at [Friday's] Hartford Courant above the fold," he added, referring to a story about Ellef's payment to Link. Also in 1999 - and the exact date was not in Rowland's statement or documents - the Tomassos sent over an unspecified number of their employees to perform "exterior work on the cottage, including work on the gutters and drainage." Around the time when this work was being done at no cost to Rowland in Litchfield, his administration was commissioning much more expensive state work in Middletown - and it went to the Tomassos. On April 23, 1999, five companies submitted proposals to the state Department of Public Works to build the $50 million, new Long Lane Juvenile School in Middletown. A Tomasso company, TBI Construction, was chosen, in a selection ultimately approved by Ellef. Since The Courant's Nov. 25 story about the cottage renovations, federal prosecutors and the FBI have either subpoenaed or questioned several current and former Tomasso employees believed to have worked at the cottage. The authorities apparently are trying to determine whether there was any relation between the cottage work and the state contracts. Rowland, in his statement, insisted that there is none. "None of the people [who provided work or benefits to the Rowlands] received any benefit from my office or the state in exchange for their assistance," he said in the statement. A lawyer for the Tomassos declined to comment.

Top Officials Involved

Several top Rowland administration officials made a prominent appearance on the list of those who helped with the cottage renovations - among them Jo McKenzie, the $84,000-a-year public works official who supervises operations at the official governor's residence. She also is a Republican National Committee member and is close personally with both Rowland and the state's first lady. Another state official who "helped perform and/or coordinate work on the cottage" was Vincent DeRosa, Rowland's longtime friend and former state police driver, whom the governor now has installed as the state's $109,000-a-year director of homeland security. Rowland's statement also acknowledged assistance from two relative unknowns from the Waterbury area, Rowland's hometown: Ed Mikenas, whose occupation could not be ascertained Friday, and Maurice Fabiani, a home builder. McKenzie's lawyer declined comment. The others named could not be reached Friday. Meanwhile, several companies - either owned by top administration officials, or having received state contracts during Rowland's tenure - worked on the cottage. In addition to the Tomassos, the companies included: A construction company owned by the family of P.J. Delahunty, Rowland's deputy commissioner of public works, installed the cathedral ceiling in the cottage in 1997. Rowland admitted in his statement that he never paid Delahunty for the work and did not disclose the cost. Delahunty has worked for years in conjunction with Patrick Baker & Sons, also of Southington, which served as the general contractor and coordinator of the cottage job in 1997. The Rowlands paid Baker $10,000 in 1997 and sent a belated check for nearly $5,000 in October, more than six years late. Cocchiola Paving Inc. of Watertown, owned by a friend of both Rowland and DeRosa, did $2,000 of work in 1997 on the cottage, furnishing and hauling topsoil. Their bill was not paid until September, six years later. Cocchiola has done more than $500,000 in state work since 1996, including paving at the state Capitol. O & G Construction Inc. of Torrington, the largest road contractor in the state with more than $200 million in state contracts since 1997, did $2,199 worth of work in June of 1997 at the cottage, but was not paid until September 2001. The firm also did $1,363 worth of pipe excavation and installation three months ago, and was paid immediately. Astro Electric of Waterbury did more than $5,100 worth of work at the cottage in June of 1997. He was not paid until September 2003. The company also has done work for the state at Naugatuck Community College, but a state Public Works spokeswoman did not know how much Friday. Delahunty's lawyer declined comment. The others could not be reached Friday.

Rowland In Legal Jeopardy?

Lawyers who have been watching the home improvement story unfold said Rowland's disclosures Friday seem to place him in increasing legal jeopardy. But, they said, nothing had become public by Friday that clearly implicates the governor in a crime. To convict Rowland of bribery, federal prosecutors would have to persuade a jury that Rowland arranged to steer state work to contractors in exchange for free, or reduced-rate work they did on his private cottage. The lawyers following the case said that Rowland appears to be trying to distance himself from the work on his cottage, suggesting that the improvements were gifts arranged - and in some cases paid for - by state employees. There once was a state ethics law that banned officials from receiving significant gifts from subordinates whose financial well-being they could affect, but that law was wiped off the books by legislators in 1997 shortly after Rowland ran afoul of it. In that year, Rowland paid a $2,000 fine to settle a State Ethics Commission complaint for his acceptance of tickets to Meadows Music Theatre concerts. The legislative ban on subordinates' gifts disappeared amid a legislative ethics reform bill that was otherwise palatable to the ethics commission. Few would have expected its absence to have such importance six years later. Meanwhile, if Rowland was aware that state employees were working on his cottage while on the state payroll, he could be charged with larceny, the lawyers said. But no clear evidence supporting such an accusation has become public.