Bartlett And Julian Plead Not Guilty, Seek Jury Trials

FAIRFIELD, CT — A former Fairfield official and an ex-town contractor will each seek a jury trial after being charged with illegal dumping and other crimes connected to the operation of the public works yard.

Lawyers entered pleas of not guilty with jury election Tuesday for ex-public works superintendent Scott Bartlett and Julian Companies Owner Jason Julian.

Neither defendant spoke during the brief appearances before Judge Joan Alexander at the superior courthouse on Main Street in Bridgeport. Their attorneys declined to comment on the case when approached outside the courtroom.

Bartlett and Julian will both appear in court again Nov. 20.

Bartlett, Julian and former public works director Joe Michelangelo were arrested in August, and both Bartlett and Michelangelo have since been fired from their town jobs. Bartlett is charged with forgery, larceny, taking kickbacks, illegal dumping, illegal discharge and handling waste without a permit. Julian is charged with forgery, larceny, paying a kickback, illegal dumping, illegal discharge and handling waste without a permit.

Michelangelo, who faces similar charges, will appear Oct. 17 at the superior court facility on Golden Hill Street, when his case will likely be transferred to Main Street.

Fairfield hired Julian in 2013 to operate the public works yard and reduce the size of a pile of unused project material by 40,000 cubic yards. But over the next three years, the pile more than doubled in size, and days before the agreement was set to end, PCBs and lead were discovered on the property.

After conservation officials said the transportation and dumping of contaminated material could have violated state or federal law, police opened an investigation in 2017, which resulted in the recent arrests.

Around the same time that Bartlett, Julian and Michelangelo were charged, asbestos was reported at a local park, and not long after that, the town released a list of 20 priority contamination testing sites that received fill material from the public works yard when it was operated by Julian. Of those sites, 10 were confirmed to contain contaminants such as asbestos, arsenic, lead and PCBs.

In addition to the criminal case, Fairfield has sued Julian for millions in damages and Julian has sued the town for defamation.