Melissa Bailey Photo
Daly took over the keys to Lehman Brothers in December 2008.
Attorney Michael J. Daly is headed to prison for 18 months for pocketing $11,000 from a storied East Rock printing press that landed under his supervision in bankruptcy court.
Daly, who’s 55, was sentenced Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. Daly pleaded guilty last year to ripping off Lehman Brothers in East Rock, which went belly up in 2008 after printing high-end stationery for nearly a century.
Lehman Brothers, at 191 Foster St., closed its doors on Dec. 5, 2008, when it converted from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Developer Gil Marshak is now proceeding with plans to convert it into housing.
Daly, who was appointed bankruptcy trustee of the estate, knocked on the door of the plant on Dec. 9, 2008 and announced to workers that the plant must close. Then he oversaw the liquidation of all the equipment inside, and began the process of putting the property out to bid. Another trustee later took over the case.
Daly is accused of siphoning off $11,100 from the Lehman Brothers estate. He pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a court officer.
A federal probe, meanwhile, revealed more offenses: “While serving as a bankruptcy trustee, Daly embezzled $16,500 from two other estates, stole approximately $22,100 in jewelry from another estate, and attempted to submit approximately $73,650 in false time records in association with his work on behalf of another estate,” according to Tom Carson, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Daly will serve 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years’ supervised release, and pay a fine of $15,000. As part of his guilty plea, he gave up his license to practice law.
Click here for a courtroom report in the Hartford Courant, including how a conflict with New Haven’s Michelle DiLieto affected the sentence.
Past stories on the Lehman Brothers closure:
• Lawyer Pleads Guilty To Swindling Lehman Bros.
• Factory Zone Change OK’d
• How About Some Coffee With Those Condos?
• Art Teachers Feast At Shuttered-Factory Sale
• Surprise Bidder Snags A Piece Of History
• Shuttered Lehman Bros. Plant Has A Future
• Rescue Effort Blocked
• White Knight Proposes Lehman Bros. Rescue
• State Steps In To Help Laid-Off Workers
• Booted Workers Seek $180G In Unpaid Benefits
• New Haven’s Lehman Bros., Too, Goes Belly Up
