Connecticut
Former lawmaker’s wife sentenced in theft of COVID-19 funds
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The wife of a now-former Connecticut state lawmaker was sentenced Thursday to six months in federal prison in connection with her role in the alleged theft of federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven.
Lauren DiMassa, one of several people arrested with former state Rep. Michael DiMassa in the investigation, had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Federal prosecutors said the city of West Haven paid Lauren DiMassa, nearly $148,000 for services she never provided to the city. She and her husband were accused of submitting fraudulent invoices to the city for coronavirus-related services including youth violence prevention, but instead they used the money for their own benefit, prosecutors said.
“I am embarrassed and appalled at my own actions and simply wish to pay my debts and live out a quiet life with my family,” she wrote in a letter of apology to the judge.
Judge Omar Williams ordered Lauren DiMassa to report to prison on May 23. He also sentenced her to serve five years of supervised release, the first six months of which must be spend in home confinement. She also was ordered to pay $147,776 in restitution.
DiMassa’s lawyer, Francis O’Reilly, said during her plea hearing last July that it was important to note that DiMassa turned over most of the money she received from the city to her husband.
Michael DiMassa, a Democrat, served as an aide to the city, with authority to approve reimbursement of COVID-19 expenditures.
He resigned from that job and the state legislature after his 2021 arrest. He has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy charges related to the total theft of more than $1.2 million in virus relief funds from the city and is set to be sentenced next month.
Another former city employee, John Bernardo, 66, was sentenced Wednesday to 13 months in prison for his role in the scheme.
South Carolina
Lawsuit: Slurs, coercion at BBQ chain with racist history
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina barbecue chain known for its pro-segregation stance in a landmark 1960s case and its embrace of the Confederate flag in 2000 is facing allegations of racism and sexual harassment by the fired general manager of one of its restaurants.
According to a lawsuit filed this week by a Black woman who worked at a Maurice’s Piggie Park BBQ location in Columbia, the man who ran it, general manager Jeff Harrison, coerced her early last year into a sexual relationship with promises of a raise, which he paid.
She says she quit after he grew “irate” and “more threatening” when she rebuffed his additional sexual advances. The Associated Press isn’t naming the woman because she is an alleged victim of sexual abuse.
In a separate lawsuit brought last month by Damien Wooden, another Black former employee, Wooden contends that Harrison left him racist voicemails including slurs and threatening to break his jaw after he told Harrison to stop calling and harassing the female employee who quit.
The lawsuits, which seek undisclosed damages, accuse the company of negligent supervision and accuse Harrison of intentionally inflicting emotional distress, assault and battery.
The AP did not hear back after leaving messages Wednesday evening with multiple listed phone numbers and an email address believed to be Harrison’s.
A company receptionist told the AP that Maurice’s Piggie Park BBQ had no comment. Its president, Lloyd Bessinger, told ABC Columbia News that the company “does not condone or accept any sexual or racial behavior.”
“When I heard of Mr. Harrison’s behavior I fired him imminently,” Bessinger said in the statement. “We are a local family business that supports the community by providing jobs & great BBQ for 60 years.”
But the plaintiffs’ lawyers said the incidents show that leaders haven’t learned from the company’s past bigotry.
In 1964, a waitress at a Piggie Park Drive-In refused to take two Black customers’ order. Owner Maurice Bessinger justified his refusal to serve Black customers inside his stores — conveyed through window signs — based on his religious opposition to racial integration. In a lawsuit over the matter, a federal judge ruled in 1966 that such beliefs couldn’t be practiced “in utter disregard of the clear constitutional rights of other citizens” — marking a victory for the civil rights movement.
The U.S. Supreme Court later called Bessinger’s religious freedom argument “patently frivolous” in a 1968 decision that established attorneys’ fees could be awarded to plaintiffs in successful civil rights cases.
In 2000, Bessinger opposed the South Carolina Legislature’s removal of the Confederate flag from the dome of the state Capitol by flying it outside of all his restaurants. Walmart then banned the restaurant chain’s famous mustard-based barbecue sauce during an NAACP-led boycott that Bessinger claimed cost him $20 million, according to The State newspaper.
“It’s a cultural issue more than anything else and they just haven’t done enough,” said Bakari Sellers, a civil rights attorney and former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. “It just shows there’s a long way to go, to say the least.”
Maine
Chief justice: Continuing backlog ‘hurts my heart’
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s backlog of court cases remains about 60% to 65% higher than pre-pandemic levels, a stubborn figure the state has been unable to reduce over two years, the state’s chief justice said Thursday.
The primary cause is the inability to hold jury trials early in the pandemic, but other factors include the opioid epidemic and mental health disorders, child protective cases, and a big increase in felony crimes, the most serious criminal cases that take longer to resolve, Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill told lawmakers.
“Judicial branch employees are feeling the weight of the realization that no matter what we do, we cannot catch up. Frankly, it hurts my heart,” she said.
Stanfill used her State of the Judiciary address to the Maine Legislature to promote the governor’s budget proposal that includes four new judges and more clerks and marshals.
Stanfill said she’s also requesting a pay increase for judges beyond a 3% cost of living adjustment, telling lawmakers that the state’s judges are among the nation’s lowest.
She told lawmakers that there are many factors behind the backlog and noted that the judicial system was strained before the pandemic exacerbated the number of pending cases. Furthermore, court officials are spending a greater amount of time trying to find lawyers willing to represent indigent clients, she said.
“The pandemic was the tipping point that unmasked the reality that even before 2020, the courts and judicial system were straining to keep up with the demand of cases,” she said.
