BRIDGEPORT, CT — A 54-year-old Trumbull man pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge stemming from an embezzlement conspiracy involving Success Village Apartments, a 924-unit residential cooperative in Bridgeport and Stratford.
Richard J. Messina pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to federal prosecutors. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Messina and Carmine Gentile own Umbrella Mechanical LLC, a New Jersey-registered company, and Messina owns RJM Mechanical, a Connecticut-registered company. The businesses provided commercial and residential plumbing, heating and air conditioning services.
Umbrella began providing plumbing services to Success Village in approximately June 2022, including work on piping and boilers that provided heat and hot water to residents, according to court records. RJM began providing plumbing services related to heat and hot water at the cooperative in approximately July 2024.
Success Village general manager Charles Pitcher referred Messina and Umbrella to the cooperative as a plumbing contractor, according to prosecutors.
Between approximately June 2022 and September 2024, Messina, Gentile, Pitcher and others participated in a conspiracy in which vendors, including Umbrella and RJM, submitted fraudulent invoices and payment requests to Success Village, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said the invoices sought payment for work that was not performed or included inflated prices that overstated the amount owed by Success Village.
Pitcher and another person identified in court records as "Person-2" agreed that vendors would divert a percentage of payments they received from Success Village to Pitcher and Person-2 in exchange for receiving work and payments from the cooperative, according to prosecutors.
Messina, Gentile and their co-conspirators agreed that Umbrella and RJM would divert about 20 percent of their Success Village payments to Pitcher and Person-2, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, Messina, Gentile and others prepared or caused to be prepared invoices and payment requests that were not the result of competitive bidding and included unreasonable markups and charges for goods and services that were not provided. Prosecutors said some amounts billed to Success Village were selected by Pitcher and Person-2.
Success Village paid Umbrella approximately $2.63 million and RJM approximately $99,414 during the conspiracy, according to prosecutors. Of those payments, $546,000 was diverted to Pitcher and Person-2.
As part of his plea agreement, Messina agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of at least $750,000 and to pay restitution of at least $1.5 million, prosecutors said.
Messina was released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.
Gentile and Pitcher previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Riley is prosecuting the case.
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