Shelton Building Official Sentenced to Federal Prison for Lying to Grand Jury During Public Corruption Probe

The United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced that ELLIOT WILSON, 67, of Shelton, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Charles S. Haight, Jr. in New Haven to five months of imprisonment, followed by five months of home confinement and two years of supervised release, for making a false declaration to a federal grand jury during a probe of public corruption concerning officials and developers in Shelton. WILSON also was ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $5000.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately 1999 to 2009, WILSON was employed by the City of Shelton as the head building official, with responsibilities that included inspecting development projects and issuing certificates of occupancy. During that time period, WILSON received items of value from developers in Shelton who sought to influence him in connection with his official duties. These items included, but were not limited to, cash payments, building supplies, gift certificates, and the opportunity to purchase a vehicle through a dealership at a price below the market value of the vehicle.

On February 23, 2009, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents interviewed WILSON. During that interview, WILSON falsely told agents that he had not received any items of value or cash from a specific Shelton developer (described in court filings as “Developer A”) other than the receipt of small cash payments at Christmas time. After being confronted with the fact that WILSON had received building supplies from Developer A, WILSON admitted that he did receive building supplies from the developer. However, WILSON maintained that, other than the building supplies and the small cash payments at Christmas time, he had not received any other benefit from Developer A. This statement was false, in that WILSON, while inspecting a location built by Developer A, had requested and thereafter received approximately $2,500 in cash from the developer.

On February 26, 2009, WILSON appeared before a federal grand jury in New Haven that was investigating allegations that public officials, developers, and others engaged in acts of public corruption. After taking an oath to testify truthfully, WILSON knowingly provided materially false testimony to the grand jury regarding benefits he had received from developers. In particular, WILSON falsely testified that in approximately December 2008, he provided Developer A with $1,000 in cash to repay part of the $2,500 in cash provided to WILSON by the developer when, in fact, WILSON had not made any payment to the developer. WILSON also falsely testified that he had purchased a vehicle from a dealership that had previously been owned by James Botti because WILSON wanted the dealership to provide him with a dealership warranty. However, the dealership did not provide WILSON with such a warranty, and the government alleges that Botti had arranged for WILSON to purchase a vehicle from the dealership at a price below the market value of the vehicle, and that Botti was using the third-party dealership to conceal the benefit this developer was providing to WILSON.

WILSON pleaded guilty to the offense on January 6, 2010.

Botti is currently serving a 72-month term of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Richard J. Schechter and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.