Husband of California congressman sentenced to prison in Connecticut fraud case – Winnipeg Free Press

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The former chairman of the board of a Connecticut energy cooperative and estranged husband of a California congresswoman was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison for using public funds to pay for luxury trips. to the Kentucky Derby and a luxury golf course. complex.

James Sullivan, 56, a former Democratic candidate for Congress in Connecticut, was convicted of helping plan trips in 2015 and 2016 for dozens of top officials, board members and family members totaling $800,000. Prosecutors said the trips were not related to the business of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Power Cooperative, which receives federal funds from the US Department of Energy.

The $800,000 included travel expenses, private airfare, first-class hotel accommodations, meals, sporting event tickets, golf fees, souvenirs and gifts, federal prosecutors said.

For a trip to the 2015 Kentucky Derby, which prosecutors say averaged about $9,000 per guest, Sullivan brought his son, brother and sister-in-law, as well as a woman he knew and her friend.

Sullivan is married to Democratic U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez, who dropped her bid for House Democratic Caucus chair after Sullivan’s impeachment in 2018. Connecticut court records indicate the couple are in the process of divorce.

A second case is still pending against Sullivan and the former CEO of the energy cooperative involving $100,000 of Sullivan’s personal and travel expenses, including several tickets that included expenses for Sanchez, such as the trip to the Kentucky Derby and Key West. , Florida, in 2014.

An email seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for Sanchez.

In 2018, a spokesperson for Sanchez said she attended a trip to the Kentucky Derby “in a personal capacity as the spouse of a board member, which is expressly permitted under House rules. Although she was not required to do so, she out of an abundance of caution sought the advice of the House Ethics Committee before attending, and the committee confirmed that she was able to attend.”

Sullivan, the second of three people sentenced this week in the scheme, apologized in court, calling the trips “a serious misjudgment,” according to The Day of New London. She is due to report to prison on July 12.