In Success Village Scandal, Feds Ty Up A Pitcher To Catch A Bird

Law Enforcement, News and Events16 Comments
Ty Bird has a lot to think about.

The two men charged so far in the Success Village kickback scheme that trampled the lives of roughly 2,000 residents in Bridgeport and Stratford are cooperating with federal authorities to build an emerging case against the former co-op board leader Ty Bird identified as “Person-1” in  a news release issued by the Connecticut U.S. attorney.

Will Bird pull a Kosta Diamantis and fly the coop?

Charles Pitcher and Carmine Gentile have both entered guilty pleas to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their roles in the scheme. They are cooperating with the government to mitigate their prison exposure.

Typically the federal government doesn’t identify the big fish in a case until a direct charge has been brought. The plea agreements from two associates will certainly give Bird and his lawyer a lot to think about as details about a fee-sharing agreement emerge, information provided to the government by the cooperators.

Feds raided Ty Bird’s house in May. Photo courtesy of Morgan Schick.

This is a damning case on so many levels, the monthly common charges of owners raped to the tune of millions of dollars, no heat, no hot water, taxes not paid, utilities not paid, a public health catastrophe, home values under water, the situation so dire municipal leaders in Bridgeport and Stratford prevailing upon Superior Court Judge Dale Radcliffe to jettison the elected board in favor of attorney Barry Knott who unpacked the mess to bring sanity and stability to the largest private coop in Connecticut.

From the news release.

Between approximately June 2022 and September 2024, Pitcher, Gentile, and others, including an individual identified as “Person-1” in the Criminal Information charging Pitcher, engaged in an embezzlement conspiracy through which vendors, including Umbrella, would submit fraudulent invoices and requests for payment to SVA, either for work that was not performed or at artificially inflated prices that overstated the amount of money owed by SVA.  Pitcher and Person-1 agreed that, in exchange for the vendors’ receipt of work and payments from SVA, the vendors would divert between approximately 10 to 30 percent of the payments received from SVA to Pitcher and Person-1.  Gentile and others prepared and caused to be prepared fraudulent invoices and requests for payment to SVA that were not the result of a competitive bidding process, contained objectively unreasonable markups for certain goods and services, contained charges for goods and services that were not rendered, contained amounts to be billed to SVA that were chosen by Pitcher and Person-1, and were otherwise fraudulently inflated, including by not accounting for the money that was remitted to Pitcher and Person-1.

This case has a number of layers to it, FBI, IRS U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Ty Bird will be charged. The larger question is will he also try to lessen his prison exposure by cutting a plea deal with the government.

No matter what he does he’s looking at heavy time as well as his associates in the scheme, albeit less than his.

This case isn’t just about a couple of people being hurt, we’re talking about the suffering of thousands of people schemed out of their money and quality of life.

Imagine standing before a federal judge with all those variables?

 

 

 

 

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16 comments

  1. Neither of the two articles posted by OIB for review have identified the legal representation of Co-Op interest owners for the over 900 properties. Just a guess on my part but have the two parties who appeared in court to plea guilty to a charge for their participation in an ongoing fraud. It seems to me that Person-1 has much to account for financially and for failing administration by self-interest but failing also his FIDUCIARY duty to his neighbors, both coop interest owners and renters also.
    Perhaps this duty of Board members as expressed in CT statutes requires education from the City or another teacher/informer? Finding legal counsel for this type of issue in Bridgeport at this moment starts with a retainer of thousands of dollars. But attending to learning experiences in the comfort of Casual CIVICS Conversations provides a basic opportunity to ask questions on the way to becoming informed.
    See: yourbridgeportvote.com for dates of sessions in many city districts. Time will tell.

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    1. Do you know how many city residents have ownership interests in Co-Ops or Condos governed by CT statute? Yet each of those residents depend upon the observance of by-laws, communications from authorized leadership, elections, and management of administrative and financial issues by folks they elect. When that becomes undependable or contentious, where do they turn?
      Renters in the City have recourse to a FAIR RENT COMMISSION that existed two decades ago but disappeared when elected City leaders failed to make timely and qualified appointments. The City Council caused it to reform three years ago.
      But ownership interests have no FAIR HOUSING COMMISSION to resort to when issues and concerns venture beyond guardrails. Does the City have an interest in restoring a Housing Commission for resident owners? In my opinion which you may term foolish, why wait for the State Court to place a manager to return a status quo and some order, or the Federal authorities including the USPostal Service as well as State and local enforcement to act. Perhaps the City may offer information and educational opportunity to citizens who wish to perform actual public service on a Board or Commission as a democratis participation. Why not? What is the harm? Time will tell.

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  4. Joel give up! Jelly Donut aka JML or maybe J(JD)ML will never be able to express himself simply. He will use 100 words to say something that normal people can say in two words.
    Time has told us that.

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    1. “Normal people” without information, instruction, and diverse sources of facts and finances are vulnerable to predatory behavior by those who “abuse authority” of their positions as fiduciaries.
      Joe McLaine, do you express that in two words that I use “authority abuse”!!!
      Rather than siding with Joel, who raises the name Barry Johnson, and I search for which man, dead or alive, he may reference.
      Thank you Joel for presenting me with an artist, whose works I did not know, who had a thoughtful retrospective show in Portland, OR recently. Or is it a reference to a different person?
      Who are the legal professionals who are part of the scene that developed in 2020 during COVID when everything about daily life changed by closing down people contacts? What firm of lawyers represented the Success Village owners, worked with their Board and were compensated by them, and ultimately disappear from the Only In Bridgeport narrative?
      As a journalist Lenny, why have you ignored the professional(s) who had obligations to the owners? Am I clear, dear readers? Do I make a case for additional information for a more complete story? Time will tell.

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      1. JML, I have reported numerous times the compensated law firms, lawyers that represented the Success Village board of directors hired by former leader Ty Bird. They include Bradley Law Group, Darnell Crosland, Juda Epstein. It was Bradley Law Group, led by Dennis Bradley and Mark Bradley, that tried to keep Bird in power, challenging the municipal application for the state court to appoint a receiver and then Bird seeking federal bankruptcy protection after claiming in state court finances were just ducky when they weren’t. The state recently suspended Dennis Bradley’s law license as a result of his election law federal conviction. The Bradley Law Group’s fiduciary responsibility did not extend to the harmed residents at Success Village, living and dying with Ty Bird who no doubt will be charged by federal authorities in a kick back scheme in which two of his cronies have been charged and are cooperating with the government.

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        1. Thank you for reminding us of the several lawyers or groups who have been involved in the fall of Success Village from operating self-governance and appointment of Barry Knott by Judge Radcliffe as Receiver to restore order fiscally for the benefit of all.

          You have added a new word, fiduciary, to this conversation today when you comment that ‘Bradly (sic) Law Group’s fiduciary responsibility’ did not extend to interest owners at Success Village. Neither of us is an attorney but I have read what Rule 1.13 of the CT Rules of Professional Responsibility say. And perhaps we can argue about such a rule for more than ‘two word’ which seem to pass the info test of some readers.

          Who were the succession of legal counsellors by the Association arguably representing these folks as Agent for the Co-Op Owner Association? Who does have a fiduciary duty to the owners of co-op interests in such a situation?

          The City of Bridgeport determined early that the City did not have a duty to those interest owners. Yet they learned anew when the Health Department got involved. And presumably allowed the City attorney to provide advice in other Bridgeport fiscal issues.

          I am aware of one or more other residential units where observance of By-laws, internal communication, and or fiscal issues are in disarray for resident owners in the City. It makes individuals vulnerable to intimidation and pressure, which is why I have been seeking the reinstatement of a Fair Housing Commission in Bridgeport for years. Didn’t Mayor Ganim preside in his earlier terms when there was such a body? He may know the reason why folks are not recruited to such a body in recent years. Time will tell.

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          1. John, based on my conspiracy theory. I think I can add a new word. 🙂

            “All”,

            It comes off like “Chaos.” So it begs the question.

            When you speak of benefits for “all,” is that a specific segment of the citizenry? If so, does it come at a cost to another part of the citizenry not “express,” in that coded terminology?

            While your line of query/questions in your quest for political advocacy in the Port’s political realm is perhaps selective in nature, in its beneficence. It is “special” in its own right. 🤣

            Was going to use “unique,” but I’m adding that word to my repertoire of coded words in my conspiracy theory dictionary. 🙂

            I mean, we wouldn’t want confusion or misinterpretation of being “disingenuous” 🙂

            I am sure your informed, Yale-educated insight will be able to decipher it.

            For clarity and genuineness, for the “unique” segment of the Port population. The word “unique” is coded for “retard. 🤣

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msDcShv_r20

            What say you, Prophet?

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th8YvXJ8Q-w

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  5. I would like to know where, in this house of cards or dominoes, this falls in the Brid saga.

    I mean, it seems funny how so many seemed to post on OIB, when it was that go-to site, John. 🙂 Come down on Maria for her behavior and actions. Seemingly like this now with this bus/blight abusive parking.

    You have to assume such a drastic removal of the standing board plays a vital role in the events that followed, no? JS JA

    “Normal people” without information, instruction, and diverse sources of facts and finances are vulnerable to predatory behavior by those who “abuse authority” of their positions as fiduciaries.

    Perhaps, but that predatory behavior comes to power with a vote. By the people in that democratic process. JS Pencil Box?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFgcqB8-AxE

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  9. BTW, John, just conversing on the go-to site for Port political discourse. I hope there are no hard feelings about my words, particularly the ones that end in BAM!🤣

    Keep up the fabulous work in your civil CCC discouse/gatherings. Perhaps we will meet for that jelly doughnut and coffee. For clarity, jelly doughnut 🍩 and coffee ☕ means just that: coffee and doughnuts. Who knows. 🙂

    I mean, since I got a stay — a reprieve until the next attempt — is far to say. Has my Pencil Box ever shown up to a CCC? 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TO48Cnl66w

    P.S. If he ever does attend, be advised. Do not trivialize the word “Unique”; decodedly speaking, the word “Retard.” He is very passionate about it. Suicide is ok.

    The Prophet.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8E3Dh-gfhM&list=RDm8E3Dh-gfhM&start_radio=1

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