Former Middlebury Fire Chief to Serve Time in Prison for Embezzling Funds

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that PAUL PERROTTI, 49, of Middlebury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven to three months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for embezzling funds while serving as the Fire Chief of the Town of Middlebury.  Judge Meyer also ordered PERROTTI to perform 200 hours of community service during his term of supervised release. 

On July 23, 2015, a jury found PERROTTI guilty of two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.

According to the evidence at trial, PERROTTI served as the Fire Chief of the Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. (“MVFD”) from 1997 until 2014.  PERROTTI also is a licensed electrical contractor and, since approximately 2010, has operated Paul Perrotti Electric, LLC (“PPE”).  In 2012 and 2013, PERROTTI used Town funds to pay for unauthorized personal expenses and for expenses associated with PPE.  These payments included checks made directly payable to employees of PPE, checks made to various vendors of PPE for PPE-related supplies, and checks made to pay third parties, who ultimately passed on the payments to PERROTTI.  PERROTTI also submitted invoices to the Town of Middlebury for expenses that he falsely claimed were incurred by MVFD but, in fact, were expenses related to the business of PPE, including bills for various vendors of PPE.

In a post-trial ruling, Judge Meyer found that PERROTTI embezzled $25,746 from the Town and the MVFD.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Karwan and Heather Cherry.