Avon, Somers Men Indicted for Botched Dillon Stadium, Soccer Team Plan

HARTFORD, CT - Men from Avon and Somers have been indicted in the botched Dillon Stadium renovation initiative designed to bring a pro soccer club to the city.

The announcement was made Thursday by Deirdre M. Daly, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut; Patricia M. Ferrick, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Joel P. Garland, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England.

The trio said that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned a 26-count indictment on Wednesday charging Mitchell Anderson, 51, of Avon, and James C. Duckett Jr., 44, of Somers, with conspiracy, fraud and related offenses stemming from the City of Hartford’s efforts to revitalize Dillon Stadium and a plan to bring a professional soccer team to the city.

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Anderson was arrested Thursday at this residence. He appeared shortly after before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and was released on a $100,000 bond, Daly said.

Duckett surrendered to the FBI in Las Vegas, and is expected to appear in Las Vegas federal court on Friday, Daly said.

According to indictment, in September 2014, Hartford officials entered into a professional services agreement with Anderson's company, Premier Sports Management Group, also known as PSMG, to secure a professional soccer team and to develop a new, 9,000 seat facility at the Dillon Stadium location in Hartford.

Under the terms of the agreement, PSMG was entitled to receive $775,000 for serving as the project manager for the $12 million plan, according to the indictment. In February 2015, Anderson joined up with Duckett, who agreed to be the majority owner of the professional soccer team, according to the indictment.

The indictment said that Anderson and Duckett subsequently "represented to various city officials" that PSMG and Duckett’s Black Diamond Consulting Group had merged for purposes of completing the Dillon Stadium project and securing the professional soccer team.

The indictment alleges that, beginning in approximately March 2015, Anderson and Duckett submitted invoices to the city for reimbursement to PSMG subcontractors working on the project. But, the indictment alleges, rather than pay the total amounts owed to PSMG’s subcontractors, Anderson and Duckett directed hundreds of thousands of dollars that they received from the city to themselves, PSMG, Black Diamond and to other entities not related to the Dillon Stadium project.

According to the indictment, Anderson and Duckett were behind the submission of "inflated invoices" to city officials.

The indictment charges both men with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The indictment also charges Anderson with four counts of mail fraud, and both with multiple counts of wire fraud and conducting illegal monetary transactions.
Daly said if convicted of the conspiracy, mail and wire fraud counts, the men face a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count. If convicted of conducting illegal monetary transactions, the defendants face a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each count, Daly said.

Photo credit: Hartford City FC