5 Fairfield 'Fill Pile' Defendants Scheduled For Court Hearing Monday

FAIRFIELD, CT — Five of the seven defendants in the Fairfield fill pile case are scheduled to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court on Monday morning, as they seek accelerated rehabilitation in connection with the illegal dumping and corruption case.

Monday marks the first hearing for the five since the seventh defendant, former Fairfield Public Works Director Joe Michelangelo, pleaded guilty to several charges in the case, and agreed to testify against them in a trial.

The five defendants are:

• Former Fairfield conservation director and interim head of public works Brian Carey
• Former Fairfield human resources director Emmet Hibson
• Former Fairfield public works superintendent Scott Bartlett
• Former Fairfield chief financial officer Robert Mayer
• Jason Julian, co-owner of Julian Enterprises

Another defendant, Robert J. Grabarek, who is an environmental contractor who was hired by the town, has not applied for accelerated rehabilitation.

The seven are accused of a host of violations, including forgery, corruption and conspiring to dump toxic materials throughout Fairfield. Michelangelo pleaded guilty to:

• Receiving Solid Waste at an Unpermitted Facility
• Illegal Disposal of Asbestos
• Illegal Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
• Conspiracy to Commit the crimes of First-Degree Larceny, Second-Degree Forgery and various environmental offenses

At last week's hearing where Michelangelo pleaded guilty, Judge Kevin Russo told him that he would not have been inclined to grant him AR in the case, due to the seriousness of the charges. The judge cautioned Michelangelo that the plea deal could collapse if new information or other factors came to light.

Under accelerated rehabilitation, a nonviolent defendant is placed on probation for up to two years, and if they do not commit another crime during that time, the charges are dropped.

Fairfield is facing millions in cleanup costs as a result of the fill pile case, in which tons of contaminated materials were illegally dumped throughout town.

"This has been a very unfortunate yet entirely avoidable scandal in our Town, the full cost to the taxpayers is still unknown," said First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick. "The cleanup and legal fees have already cost taxpayers approximately $5 million and the total bill may be in excess of $20 million, which is only part of this painful story. I pledged to Fairfielders from the day I took office that I would restore the public's trust by cleaning up the contaminated material across our Town while complying fully with law enforcement and the CT State’s Attorney’s Office."