Refusing to dismiss allegations against the mayor’s favorite marshal, a state commission is moving forward with an investigation into whether Peter Criscuolo doctored paperwork to inflate fees in a foreclosure suit against a state representative.
At its meeting in Hartford Wednesday, the State Marshal Commission voted to deny a request by State Marshal Criscuolo to dismiss charges brought against him by New Haven State Rep. Bob Megna.
In a complaint filed in July, Megna claimed that Criscuolo tried to jack up fees in a city foreclosure suit by inventing two tenants at Megna’s vacant property on Quinnipiac Avenue. The city hired Criscuolo to serve Megna with foreclosure papers last spring. Megna owed $1,882 in taxes and late fees on the home.
When he was foreclosed on, that bill nearly doubled. Charges included $50 for a tenant search and $438 paid to Criscuolo for other marshal services.
Megna’s firsthand experience as the target of a city foreclosure suit has spurred him to inquire into how law firms and marshals handle these lucrative cases on behalf of the city, and to consider proposing state legislation to limit padded fees.Click here and here to read Megna’s take on how his case was handled.
In a decision issued on Sept. 24, the State Marshal Commission found probable cause to investigate one of charges — that Criscuolo had doctored postal documents in attempt to prove that two tenants lived at Megna’s vacant Quinnipiac Avenue property.
On a form that marshals use to verify tenants’ addresses, he allegedly wrote in a box that was supposed to be for U.S. postal workers only, affirming that a tenant did live a that address. The commission found Criscuolo wasn’t being intentionally deceptive; he really did believe that the tenant was living there. He was later proved wrong: Neither of the tenants lived there.
In its Sept. 24 decision, the commission found probable cause to investigate only one of the five allegations Megna brought against Criscuolo. The next day, Criscuolo filed papers asking them to reconsider the finding of probable cause. His request was denied Wednesday.
Reached Thursday, Criscuolo said he never thought Megna had a case against him.
“I don’t believe I did anything wrong,” he said.
Criscuolo will now come before a hearing by the Oversight Committee at the State Marshal Commission. Both Megna and Criscuolo are expected to testify and be cross-examined on their behavior. Megna said he expects the hearing to take place in January.
“I’m glad they upheld the probable cause,” said the legislator, “and I’m looking forward to a hearing to truly disclose the wrongdoing.”
Criscuolo was at the center of a series of scandals earlier this year that led to wholesale changes in how the city hands out marshal work and handles towing. Click here, here and here to read about that.
Just one more case of corruption in New Haven. Megna should consider proposing legislaton to authorize the death penalty for such masrhals-- maybe that would be a deterrent.