North End City Councilman Michael DeFilippo is not seeking reelection and now we know why.
News release from U.S. Attorney’s Office:
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that a federal grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment yesterday charging Bridgeport City Council member MICHAEL DEFILIPPO, 35, with multiple election crimes related to DeFilippo’s run for City Council in 2017 and 2018.
DeFilippo appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven, entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, and was released on bond in the amount of $250,000.
As alleged in the indictment, DeFilippo, of Bridgeport, has been a member of the Bridgeport City Council since 2018, representing the 133rd District, and owns several rental properties in Bridgeport that he leases to students at Sacred Heart University. Although Bridgeport’s City Council elections are held in odd-numbered years, because of repeated absentee ballot irregularities in the Democratic primary for the 133rd District, the September 2017 primary was re-run in November 2017, then re-run again in April 2018, and the general election took place in June 2018. In 2017 and 2018, in connection with the 133rd District’s primaries and general election for City Council, DeFilippo and others conspired to interfere with and obstruct Bridgeport citizens’ right to vote by falsifying his tenants’ voter registration applications and absentee ballots applications, then stealing tenants’ absentee ballots and forging their signatures in order to fraudulently vote for DeFilippo.
“The right to vote and have one’s vote counted in a fair and impartial election is the foundation of our democracy,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Boyle. “It is alleged that this defendant violated that right to help himself win election to the Bridgeport City Council, including by stealing ballots and forging signatures. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our FBI partners will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws to safeguard our elections.”
“Combatting public corruption in all forms continues to be a priority of the FBI,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sundberg. “Our mission to protect and serve will always include ensuring our public officials are held to the same standards as every member of our communities.”
DeFilippo is charged with one count of conspiracy against rights, four counts of identity theft, and 11 counts of fraudulent registration. The conspiracy offense carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and the identity theft and fraudulent registration offenses carry a maximum term of imprisonment of five years on each count.
Acting U.S. Attorney Boyle stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan N. Francis and David E. Novick.
Where did this investigation/indictment come from. I’m surprised it was kept quiet for so long. Lennie, where’s the link to the indictment?
So Lennie, and all of you other people that have read my posts over the last five or so years, now do you believe me? Lennie please research what I wrote years ago specifically about the election and Michael Defilippo and you will see that I stated this occurred and you will see that I’m the one that told the story of what was happening. Sorry Lisa, but now you know that I was right. I understand that there’s a process here and that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, But I’m sure the readers here fully understand that where there’s smoke there’s fire, and there was a lot of smoke. I don’t believe that the liquor license is in his name, I’m sure that it’s not. Chuck Willinger to the rescue? How do you feel about Mikey now Lynn Haig of OPED. How about all you people on the zoning board over the past few years? How is this sitting with you? Mario still is sitting pretty even though he allowed all the “bugs“ in his first restaurant and came away unscathed as did Willinger in Ganim 1. Reminds me of Al Sharpton and why he was never touched. FBI informant- look it up.
Go ahead Lennie resurrect what I wrote over and over , during the past several years.
More to come……
Cheers!
And of course another black eye for Bridgeport. When will it end? The toilet must be flushed.
$250,000 bond?! Wow.
Now we know why Jeanette Herron was nominated with a new running mate at the DTC Monday night?
Who’s next?????
Which current or former elected Bridgeport official will be the next indictee?
As I stated here on many occasions, the Suburban Ave “espresso” crew needs to be very concerned. How are you feeling Shamus?! (And others). The surveillance has had its successes but nothing has been expressed yet except the public works investigation. Defilippo’s situation really doesn’t have much to do with the round table discussions except maybe only a bit. A J probably figure into the equation. Best guess is that Joe is very worried. How are the hair plugs holding up.
Get it yet? Like I said: more to come.
Cheers!
I’m sure they also know about the illegal liquor deliveries that Mikey received but instead of having them dropped off at his store, it was dropped off at Mario’s. Just an infraction now compared to this indictment.
Let’s hope he doesn’t drop a dime on Herron or Testa!
Rich, I’m as shocked as Joel. I met Michael when he was engaged in the elections Lennie informed us of. He was being opposed by Keeley and my late best friend, Anne Phillips. The case seemed to go forever and the challenge was focused on absentees. If memory serves me irregularities were found according to the Judge’s final decision, but it never went anywhere . I know Anne let it go, and Kelley bailed. Anne Phillips died in October of 2019. She was never contacted regarding the case by any law officials after the end of the case to the day she died. Anyone who knows Anne and me will attest we were sisters. I’m as baffled as everyone. I stand by my friendship with Michael. If these allegations are true, Michael was being schooled by a pro. (I wonder who?)
Of course we know who, but you don’t really believe that he unwittingly involved himself in all of this do you? He was not a pawn in any sense of the word. What happened was that finally, someone paid attention to what was going on. Lisa, I know about him and he is as corrupt as they come. I have the highest respect for his father who is a hard working gentleman and who is as honest as the day is long. I feel bad for him that he has to witness this. I have always known what I was talking about. You know that now. The whole liquor store scam by Michael got me involved against him and unless people really know what was involved with that, they can’t possibly understand what was being perpetrated by him and all who helped him.
It’s a shame for his young family that this is going on but I foretold this years ago. I guess he thought he was smarter than he actually is, to have continued forward in his various endeavors without regard to what should have been the right thing to do. In the end it’ll probably come down to the money and how much he’s fined IF he’s found guilty. Plea bargaining will be the end of the story. Who follows next will be the next story, because……more to come.
Cheers!
If Michael had to be ‘schooled’ to do what he is accused of, then I’d say he’s really dumb. Nothing brilliant needed to fill forms and forge a signature. The last thing I’d do is forge documents using the names of my tenants in relation to an electio of which I’m a candidate. It wasn’t hard for the feds to figure out who, what, where, why…
Rich Augustynowicw, you have been on top and you never let it go, it did look a little personal.
It was all business. Cheers!
Ron
I think you had every right to question Rich’s motives up until now ….. now we should apologize as say “right on”.
Gee,imagine this,a long time employee & personal friend of Mario’s manipulated Absentee ballots.I wonder how Mike got the idea to do this?
Bubba, don’t get carried away with this apology crap. There’s an entire process that must take place, you never know how these situations end up. Rich is a nice guy, he knows the deal better than us. I only hope he keeps his long-standing disagreements with Michael separate from “the headlines. “
Future “headlines” may depend on whether or not the feds look into what benefits were inured to him while he was a council person. This is not a joke people. This opens the door for the feds to look at anything and everything that Defilippo was associated with during his tenure as council person. One example is in fact the liquor issue which was a 5 year battle in which he did not prevail UNTIL he was actually a council person. The feds might now “interview” Lynn Haig et al from OPED and look into how and why all the plans coming out of that office were changed to finally allowed him to open his store. They actually changed the law so that the superior court judge could no longer point to anything that previously prevented Defilippo from getting the zoning approval. Read the judges decisions regarding all of it and it’s clear that even the judge knew what was going on. Very clever on Willingers part but he couldn’t have done it without colluding with OPED and zoning board member(s). -and at the behest of whom besides Michael?
Now let’s look at any business Defilippo was involved with during his tenure as councilman. What committees did he serve on and decisions he made while on those committees besides possibly steering other decisions as a council member. Land deals? U. B. decisions? Anything that he may have had involvement with. I don’t know how deep the feds want to take this but it could be very large if they want it to be. I’m just looking at this from what I know, as any investigator would do. You can make your own assumptions but mine are based on experience.
Cheers!
Oh, and look to see what I wrote here on OIB on April 17 about the UB deal.
Rich, you wrote, “The feds might now “interview” Lynn Haig et al from OPED and look into how and why all the plans coming out of that office were changed to finally allowed him to open his store. They actually changed the law so that the superior court judge could no longer point to anything that previously prevented Defilippo from getting the zoning approval,” I don’t see that being a job for the feds but more of a city internal investigation.
That’s correct Ron, which is why I explained a long time ago that the judges hands were tied and the lawsuit filed on behalf of the us store owners ultimately was denied. It took many years but the crooks figured out a way to win. Which city internal investigators will perform such a task? Maybe they’ll let A J lead the case when he has time to do so!
Just kidding Ron. The feds are and have been back for quite some time. We’ll just have to wait to see what else shakes. Cheers!
Relax Lisa
All I was saying is that Ron had assume it was all personal was not correct. There was sufficient truth for a grand jury to indicate.
It now go to a jury which must find him unanimously guilt.
Bubba, when did you ever hear anyone “apologize for nefarious actions.” That was a dumb thing to suggest. I’m beginning to suspect your geographic distance from Bridgeport is having a weird affect on you. This is another travesty framed by Bridgeport’s leadership. Rich put a lot of work into trying to get his very legit points across. He deserves to feel vindicated, but you asking for an apology is laughable. The feds will take over from here, and more will be revealed. I’m disappointed because unlike Rich, I saw a side of Michael that had potential. I doubt he had any real knowledge of some he chose to follow and the consequences that he might have to bear himself. He doesn’t strike me as a guy who would flip, but I wish he would. JimFox got it right.
Sorry Lisa but I beg to differ. He knew exactly what he was getting into. The fact that you mentioned whether or not he would “flip“ proves that you know he was aware of it also , except maybe you just don’t realize that because of your “like” for him. Let me get one thing straight, Michael has always been an extremely hard-working man and very resourceful, However no matter what you may think of him he really is not that bright. He got himself wrapped up in this thing fully aware of what was transpiring at the time. Unless he is totally stupid or a complete fool then you have to believe that he knew. As far as him “flipping“, I would imagine that his young family and relatives will probably tell him to do the right thing, meaning get yourself out of this. I would tell him to come clean and get back to business. He is probably finding out quickly that the people he looked up to will throw him to the wolves in a New York minute. He has properties and a pretty good business acumen for labor related work. Whatever he has left after this court case he will pick up the pieces and move on with his life. Unless of course the “shoes” drop with other issues which might be very likely.
Cheers!
Rich, for the past 5 years you’ve been taking stabs in the dark. All of a sudden Michael is found stabbed and you want credit for it. This was kept very quiet. I doubt the feds got Michael to flip. It’s possible they tried to flip him. Had he flipped, he wouldn’t stand as currently charged. I’ve always maintained that the feds should and could get involved in investigating AB cases. AB fraud=Mail Fraud. The alleged violations by Michael begins in 2018. In 2019 the mayoral election was plagued with irregularities that also landed in court. In both cases the Judges referred the matter to authorities. It’s obvious to me that this investigation started as a referral from the courts. Question is: Are the feds investigating the 2019 primary AB irregularity allegations?
I’m not taking credit for anything other than pointing out some truths that I knew at the time. You’ll have to go back and research what I wrote about all these things here on OIB to see I was not taking “stabs the dark”. The liquor issue is all me and a couple of other store owners. We rallied a bunch more people and went ahead with a fight which we know was the right thing to do. Joel, you do understand that when it’s an issue that you yourself are involved with, no one knows it better than yourself.
As far as the other issues such as what’s alleged now, the round table espresso meetings etc. etc. , I did some digging and had some help from some of my “friends”. Nothing more than how I used to do things as a cop when I handled cases myself.
Cheers!
Rich, you could be right. Please don’t judge me for people I like or not. I believe that is my choice.
Not judging Lisa. Just stating some things that I know. Cheers!
Joel, as usual your right on. Dare I say I admire Joel, Ron Mackey Harvey W., Donald Day, JimFox and so many more on this blog. If anyone disagrees with me, they could go pound sand. And one more, I like Micheal D. CHEERS!!!!!!!!!