Lawyer gets two years in old state treasury scandal

Spadoni says he’ll appeal again

 

By Don Michak, Journal Inquirer

Published: Friday, September 2, 2011 11:07 PM EDT

 

 

Charles B. Spadoni, a lawyer convicted eight years ago of obstructing justice as the FBI and a grand jury investigated the corrupt former state treasurer Paul Silvester, was ordered Friday to serve two years in a federal prison and pay a $50,000 fine.

But the former West Hartford lawyer, whom federal prosecutors said had tried to put off his sentencing in U.S. District Court in New Haven by “again partnering” with Silvester, promptly told Senior Judge Ellen Bree Burns that he would appeal. He cited what he described as government misconduct.

Spadoni never apologized or said he had accepted responsibility for the crime that led to his conviction, citing legal advice not to make any statement that could hurt his bids for a retrial or an outright exoneration.

He charged that the government had “overreached” as it contested his appeal of his conviction in 2003 on charges of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2008 reversed Spadoni’s conviction on all but the obstruction charge, concluding that prosecutors had violated his right to a fair trial by keeping from the defense handwritten notes an FBI agent took in an initial meeting with Silvester.

The appeals court ordered a new trial. But because it affirmed his conviction on the obstruction charge, Burns had to impose a new sentence on that count.

Prosecutor John Durham told Burns Friday that the government won’t retry Spadoni on the other charges.

In 2006, with all the charges in play, Burns sentenced Spadoni to three years in jail.

Rights violated?   Spadoni told the judge that the government had “not proven” its case. He charged that it had violated his constitutional rights by citing a “proffer” from Silvester — an agreement under which the former treasurer gave information about his crimes that could be used to follow up against others involved — to fight his appeal.

He said the government had employed the “proffer” to “use evidence they never had and then draw inferences of guilt.”

Spadoni said that an unsworn affidavit Silvester had provided to his lawyers had provided “damning evidence” and that the case for his appeal was legally strong enough that he should be allowed to remain out on bail while appealing.

That set off a skirmish between Spadoni — who represented himself during the hour-long proceeding — and Durham, who said Spadoni was “once again teaming up with Mr. Silvester” to make “specious,” “unfounded,” and “scandalous” claims against the government.

“That type of conduct,” Durham added, has contributed to the “long lapse” between Spadoni’s conviction and sentencing.

“This is all about money,” the prosecutor said, returning to a theme he had struck earlier in the proceeding, when he said Spadoni had been out “to make money in a quick way while a corrupt official was still in office.”

The judge, who said she expected that the U.S Bureau of Prisons would take as long as six weeks to decide where to incarcerate Spadoni, said she would decide the bail issue in the interim.

Prosecutors originally charged that Silvester had arranged for Boston-based Triumph Capital to hire Spadoni as its general counsel after the now-defunct investment firm created an investment partnership with most of the money — $200 million — to come from the state pension fund Silvester oversaw.

$100,000 to state GOP  Silvester, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in 1999, testified at the trial in which both Triumph and Spadoni were convicted that, in exchange for the pension fund money, Triumph had agreed to make $100,000 in contributions to the state Republican Party.

Silvester said the firm also agreed to pay $25,000 to his former aide, campaign manager, and mistress, Lisa Thiesfield, so that she could quit the treasurer’s office and run his 1998 campaign.

After his defeat in the 1998 election, Silvester said, he had encouraged Triumph to hire Thiesfield, whom prosecutors said was awarded a $1 million consulting contract by the firm.

The government also said that, while a federal grand jury subpoena was served on Triumph, Spadoni had used a computer file-erasing program called “Destroy-It!” and that he continued using it as Triumph employees were called before the grand jury and additional subpoenas were issued.

Durham on Friday asked the judge to sentence Spadoni to 33 months in prison, saying the lawyer who “was making nearly a half-million dollars a year” was now before her “because he and Silvester were driven by greed.”

Spadoni, who has moved back to his hometown of West Chester, Pa., sought a 16-month sentence. He cited his military service in Vietnam, his activities as Quaker leader, his help finding jobs for two Iraqi refugees, his coaching of a high school “mock trial team,” and his regular blood donations.

As she imposed the sentence, Burns said she hadn’t “heard anything” about Spadoni acknowledging wrongdoing or expressing remorse.