Former Connecticut official convicted of bribery asks judge to spare him prison

Connecticut placed him in sole charge, with no oversight, of the billion dollar school construction budget for six years running. He took advantage of that error.

Konstantimos "Kosta" Diamantis, a former state school construction official convicted of taking bribes, is asking a federal court for home detention and maximum probation instead of up to 13 years as prison sentencing guidelines recommend.
"Mr. Diamantis does not minimize the seriousness of the jury's verdict or his breach of the public trust," his attorney, Norm Pattis, wrote in a motion to the U.S. Judge Stefon Underhill at U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.
Diamantis is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 17 after a jury last October found him guilty of 21 counts of bribery, extortion, conspiracy and making false statements to federal investigators.
The prosecution argued Diamantis used his position as head of the state's Office of School Construction Grants and Review to steer contracts on school projects in exchange for more than $75,000 in bribes.
A second trial is scheduled for early next year for additional public corruption charges. Federal prosecutors claim Diamantis, who has forfeited his law license and is a former state lawmaker, quashed a state audit of an eye care practice that was engaged in healthcare fraud when he was employed in the governor's budget department, the Office of Policy and Management.

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When the federal investigation of Diamantis burst into public view in early 2022, municipal officials from across Connecticut came forward with stories of Diamantis pressuring them to hire specific contractors.
Republican lawmakers responded, at that time, by calling for hearings and audits into Diamantis’ alleged pressure tactics.

But Lamont’s administration declined to review Diamantis’ interactions with local elected leaders and the local school building committees.

Instead, the Department of Administrative Services spent $240,000 for an auditing firm to analyze 111 school construction projects to make sure the state paperwork for those projects was filled out properly.

The auditors noted that they were instructed not to speak with local officials who oversaw those school construction projects.

“The scope of work for this engagement did not include outreach to the school district, nor did we perform any work on site at the school districts,” the auditors wrote.

Behind Kosta Diamantis’ arrest: money woes, unfettered power

May 21, 2024

The federal criminal case leveled against Konstantinos Diamantis, a former Connecticut lawmaker and state deputy budget director, paints a portrait of a man who was desperate for cash, had unfettered control over billions of dollars in government money and wasn’t afraid to use that power to ease his own financial troubles.
The 35-page criminal indictment filed last week provides a look at the hidden parts of Diamantis’ six-year tenure running Connecticut’s school construction office, which is responsible for overseeing state grants for local school projects.
In that position, Diamantis was able to influence the budgets, schedules and bids for every school project in the state, and he interacted with a small army of school construction companies, including project administrators, construction managers, plumbing and electrical contractors and demolition and abatement specialists.
But the indictment focuses on two companies that dealt with Diamantis, making the case that he routinely offered favorable treatment in exchange for cash, favors and checks, which they referred to as “presents” and “donations.”
Diamantis was charged with multiple counts of extortion, bribery and lying to investigators.
Federal prosecutors have already secured guilty pleas from three construction officials — Antonietta Roy of Construction Advocacy Professionals, and John Duffy and Salvatore Monarca of Acranom Masonry. Roy and Monarca have agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Several state lawmakers told The Connecticut Mirror, after the indictment was released, that the charges against Diamantis, if true, are likely the result of one person accumulating too much power over a taxpayer-funded program.
“There’s no checks and balances, right, and that can be a recipe for trouble,” Ritter said. “Any time you have one person who can make decisions, it’s a problem.”
Add to that Diamantis’ apparent need for money, and you have a recipe for disaster, lawmakers said.
“It’s disconcerting at best that he was allowed to get away with this with no supervision,” said Rep. Tammy Nuccio, R-Tolland. “How does that happen that no one is watching what one person is doing with billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money?”
Nuccio butted heads with Diamantis over a Tolland elementary school project, particularly over the idea that the town was going to hire whomever Diamantis wanted them to hire.
“We were told this is who you are going to hire, and if you don’t, then you won’t get any state money, and there was no one else to go to because Kosta answered to no one,” Nuccio said. “Let’s face it — this is embarrassing for the administration, because this is the guy who they put in this position with no one to watch him.

Fun fact:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/former-state-official-and-state-representative-charged-offenses-related-cancelled-state

And Green Energy, too!

A former top official in Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget office who played a key role in school construction grants and offshore wind projects was arrested Thursday morning on federal charges, a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, a former state representative from Bristol and a lawyer, was expected to appear in Hartford federal court at a time to be determined, said spokesman Thomas Carson. Details of the arrest are under seal and were not available.

Later in the day the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery released a statement that said a grand jury sitting in New Haven handed down a 22-count indictment against Diamantis of Farmington. The charges included extortion, bribery, conspiracy and false statement offenses related to his conduct as director of the state's Office of School Constructions Grants and Review under Gov. Ned Lamont.

And, of course, Medicaid fraud, because who isn’t doing that?