Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Ross cleans up litter in Wooster Square.
A question came up in the sentencing proceedings realtor Andy Ross for conspiracy to commit bribery: Who exactly was the victim of his crime?
U.S. District Judge Michael Shea Friday sentenced Ross, a New Haven realtor and Wooster Square activist, to 12 months and a day of prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for paying almost $350,000 in bribes to the former director of the West Haven Housing Authority in exchange for government contracts.
His defense attorney, Robert Casale, argued Ross’s corrupt practices did not harm the government since he was qualified for the work he provided and received a standard level of pay.
Ross directed about $349,500 toward personal development companies of Michael Siwek, executive director of the West Haven Housing Authority, in exchange for contracts with the government agency.
A candidate for Wooster Square Alder in 2013, Ross pleaded guilty in federal court to paying bribes in September 2015. He published an open letter in the Independent apologizing to the city for his actions in October 2015.
In his sentencing brief, Casale argued restitution was not a proper punishment for Ross, because West Haven’s housing authority was not definitively monetarily harmed by his actions. “The purpose of restitution is not to find ways to benefit the [Housing Authority]. It is to reimburse the [Housing Authority] for actual losses,” he argued in the brief.
“Andy Ross obtained consulting work from the WHHA because of a corrupt relationship he had with the HA’s executive director. He did the work. His fees were not outside of the norm for similar work. He provided services that benefited the HA. In fact, in order to work for the HA, Ross had to attend a weeklong course by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials to be certified as a Public Housing Manager . In other words, Ross was qualified to work for the HA according to HUD’s own requirements. That the WHHA — in hindsight — might have hired somebody else does not change the fact that Ross was properly certified to work for the HA and did in fact provide services to the HA in return for his compensation,” Casale wrote.
U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly said Ross rigged the system by bribing the director of the housing authority, ensuring competitors lost on out on opportunities for work and costing taxpayers money.
The restitution asked for — the value of the bribes — represented “a reasonable estimate of the loss that the [Housing Authority] suffered — i.e., the amounts that the [Housing Authority] overpaid in hiring Ross versus another qualified vendor,” she argued in the sentencing brief.
Ross should be sentenced to a significant term in prison, the government argued — with a statutory maximum for the charge at five years of imprisonment.
“The defendant may have done work to the ultimate satisfaction of Siwek, who the defendant was bribing, but that is hardly a ringing endorsement. Moreover, there is simply no way to evaluate the value of the work performed by the defendant when the system for awarding that work was unfairly rigged,” she argued in the brief.
“As a result of the bribes paid by Mr. Ross to Mr. Siwek, Mr. Siwek awarded Mr. Ross and his businesses contracts with the WHHA. Many (if not all) of these awarded contracts were in violation of HUD’s Statement of Procurement Policy relating to purchases over $2,500, which required the WHHA to solicit no fewer than three price quotations from separate offerors and to award the bid to the offeror providing the lowest acceptable quotation unless a price or other specified justification was set forth in writing. By avoiding this bidding process all together, Mr. Ross and Mr. Siwek set the price that Mr. Ross would receive for the “work” he performed for the WHHA without any checks and balances, and without any assurances that: (1) the work actually needed to be performed and (2) that the fees received by Mr. Ross were fair and competitive rates.”
The year and a day Judge Shea gave Ross was far less than the maximum penalty. The hearing to determine restitution is scheduled for May 19, 2016.
DeStefano Weighs In
Ross presented several letters of support to the judge seeking leniency in his sentencing. One letter came from former New Haven Mayor John DeStefano. It reads as follows:
Dear Judge Shea,
My name is John DeStefano, Jr. I am writing in connection with next week’s sentencing of Andy Ross in connection with his guilt in making corrupt payments to a City of West Haven Housing Authority official.
I served as Mayor of New Haven from 1994 until my retirement from that position in 2013. In my 20 years of public service I at most, written 10 letters in circumstances such as these. That said Mr. Ross asked that I consider writing you. Upon giving this some thought I have decided to do so understanding that I would, of course, write frankly.
First, let me say that I find what Any Ross did is unacceptable and of sanction. That it involved a public agency is particularly abhorrent to me as the integrity of our governmental institutions is essential to the public’s trust in doing the people’s work. You should also know that while I have no recollection of this being the case, it is that Mr. Ross may have made a contribution to one of my 20 campaigns for public office. However it is not through politics that I know Mr. Ross.
Simply framed, I knew Mr. Ross as an energetic member of the Wooster Square community who occasionally worked with (and sometimes in opposition to) City government in connection with issues of concern to the Wooster Square neighborhood of New Haven. Mr. Ross was an active worker, organizer and at times leader in quality of life concerns involving his neighbors. In efforts to police the neighborhood; to celebrate it assets; to keep it and, to create a environment for people of all incomes and Mr. Ross was a positive factor. He invested his time, resources and will to help create better outcomes for many residents.
He approached these efforts in a collaborative fashion with his neighbors; often doing much the work himself ‑and as contradictory as it is in connection with the behavior that put himself in this situation — in a selfless way. I found ML Ross to be concerned about making his neighborhood a more civil and healthy place for all its residents and there can be no doubt that he spent a great deal of volunteer time and energy in this effort.
Mr. Ross did things he didn’t have to do and that most residents don’t do. Mr. Ross worked with his neighbors to make his community a better And he did this year year.
In 20 years at City Hall I have observed countless examples of extraordinary community service — and some behaviors that were inexpiicable senseless. However I was always encouraged by the fact that the innumerable acts of will and kindness of our citizens consistently and geometrically outweighed the bad. My sense is that this is the case with Mr. Ross’s character, that the good far outweighs the bad and it is my hope that this substantiation of his positive behavior is of some value in your consideration of that behavior that must be sanctioned.
Thank you for taking my thoughts into account.
Very truly yours,
John DeStefano, Jr.
If it's true that all people who meet the minimum legal requirements to do a job are equally qualified to do that job, then those jobs should be chosen by lottery, rather than by application. If you're with me and think that would be a stupid way for a company or government agency to operate, then it's pretty obvious that just because Mr. Ross was legally qualified to do the job his bribes acquired for him doesn't mean that he was the right candidate for the job. It follows that the agency WAS harmed -- they spent [taxpayer] money on a job which was not performed by the best candidate.
If we're still in doubt about this, ask Mr. Casale whether he is willing to accept a random lottery of all college political science graduates with a 2.5 GPA or higher to fill his paralegal positions, or whether he is willing to hold a lottery for all law school graduates to be his junior partners.
Finally, I'm sure the Mayor is right and that Mr Ross has done good things in his community, but deliberately corrupting government is one of the worst crimes around. I'm not generally a lock-em-up guy, but this is one crime where tougher sentences are needed. If he paid $350,000 in bribes, I have to assume he profited at least $350,000, and I propose that the minimum sentence be the number of years that a minimum wage worker in the state of Connecticut would need to work to earn that money: $350,000 / ($8.50 / hour) / (40 hours / week) = 1029 weeks = about 19 years. And that's without any bills to pay!