Former Connecticut Mayor Gets Prison Term in Corruption Case

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. —  The former mayor of Waterbury, Conn., who prosecutors said used his six years in office to enrich himself and his cronies, then boasted that he was too smart to get caught, was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.

Former Mayor Joseph J. Santopietro, 33, was convicted in April of taking $125,000 in payoffs from developers in the late 1980s and using thousands of dollars in federal grant money for personal pleasures, including a massage.

“You, sir, sent the message that your office was for sale, and it was for sale early on,” said U.S. District Judge T. F. Gilroy Daly. “You have made a mockery of the faith the electorate placed in you.”

Santopietro will have to serve at least seven years and nine months under federal sentencing guidelines. He was also fined $25,000 and ordered to return the federal funds he embezzled. The exact amount has not been worked out.

The former mayor, who said he would appeal, was taken to jail after his conviction because of fears he might flee. Prosecutors cited a threat he made to “start shooting people” after his trial.

Santopietro, the operator of a lawn-care business, became mayor in 1986 at the age of 26. He served three terms as alderman before seeking the job of mayor of Connecticut’s fourth-largest city, which has a population of 109,000. He was indicted last Sept. 24 and defeated for reelection the following month.

Soon after he took office, prosecutors said, Santopietro began plotting with real estate developers on how to enrich each other. On tape recordings of conversations involving the mayor and city attorneys, Santopietro scoffed at government attempts to obtain incriminating evidence, saying he was too smart to be caught.

Santopietro was convicted on 18 of 21 counts.