Freebie Scandal Ends in Guilty Plea

BOSTON —  Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland, who left office in July amid a scandal involving gifts from state contractors, accepted a plea agreement Thursday that would send him to prison on a single federal corruption charge.

Rowland, 49, told U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey in New Haven, Conn., that he was pleading guilty to “conspiracy to steal honest service.”

Wrapped into the plea were charges of mail fraud and tax fraud.

Rowland could have faced five years in prison but under the agreement will receive a sentence of 15 to 21 months.

A friend of President Bush’s and a onetime rising star in the Republican Party, Rowland was advised by Dorsey that as a convicted felon, he would be unable to vote or hold public office.

“Obviously, mistakes have been made throughout the last few years, and I accept responsibility for that,” Rowland said afterward.

“But I also ask the people of [Connecticut] to appreciate and understand what we have tried to do over the past 25 years in public service.”

Rowland’s plea ended a two-year investigation into corruption in his administration; the probe stemmed from charges that as governor, Rowland had accepted free vacations and work on his vacation cottage from construction firms that did business with Connecticut.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Nora Dannahey said the gifts had a value of $107,000. As a result, Rowland admitted Thursday that he owed $35,459.25 in federal taxes.

The scandal broke when the Hartford Courant reported that a construction firm headed by William Tomasso had installed a new kitchen and hot tub -- and had made other improvements -- at Rowland’s summer home in Bantam Lake, Conn., at no charge.

Rowland at first insisted that he had bought the kitchen cabinets at Home Depot and that the hot tub was a gift from a personal friend. He later said both claims were lies.

Rowland and his wife, Patty, also vacationed at homes owned by Tomasso in Florida and Vermont.

While Rowland was governor, Tomasso had received a no-bid contract to build and operate a parking garage at Hartford’s Bradley International Airport. His firm also was hired by the state to renovate a juvenile jail. Rowland’s former deputy chief of staff, Lawrence Alibozek, earlier had pleaded guilty in federal court to receiving cash for helping to direct state business to Tomasso’s company.

Rowland also admitted Thursday that he took free personal trips to Las Vegas and Philadelphia while governor. The U.S. attorney did not name the company that provided these junkets.

As the scandal festered this year, Connecticut legislators began a sweeping impeachment probe.

Rowland quit July 1, when impeachment seemed imminent. He was replaced by his lieutenant governor, M. Jodi Rell.

Rell said Thursday that she felt “deep personal disappointment” over Rowland’s plea.

“While we knew that this day might come, we were never really prepared for ... it,” Rell said in a statement.

“Today the state of Connecticut was humiliated, and I, as John Rowland’s former running mate and colleague, feel personally betrayed,” Rell continued. “When I first heard the news, I felt like I was punched in the gut.”

Rowland will be formally sentenced in March.