Ex-First Selectman Among Fill Pile 'Co-Conspirators,' Records Say

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield’s former first selectman told residents that town officials had no information about the ongoing investigation of contamination and corruption at the Fairfield fill pile mere weeks after he received unsigned police records about the case, according to newly filed court documents.

The long-form charging information, filed Friday, named former first selectman Mike Tetreau, former police chief Christopher Lyddy and former chief fiscal officer Robert Mayer as “uncharged co-conspirators” in the wide-reaching investigation.

On Aug. 21, 2019, Tetreau attended a public meeting, where he said Fairfield officials hadn’t received information about the investigation, according to the new court records.

However, weeks earlier, and for months before that, Lyddy had provided several local leaders with confidential, internal and unsigned records related to the investigation, according to court documents. Tetreau, in turn, shared the unsigned records in August 2019 with Mayer and former human resources director Emmet Hibson, who faces several charges in connection with the fill pile, the documents said. Mayer also emailed the records to his daughter and the town auditor, according to the documents.

Neither Tetreau or Lyddy, nor Mayer’s attorney responded Monday to messages seeking comment.

In addition to sharing police records, court documents detail that Lyddy communicated with the attorney representing Jason Julian — co-owner of the company accused of criminally mismanaging the fill pile — on July 19, 2019, just before law enforcement executed a search warrant at the headquarters of Julian Enterprises.

“It is of great concern to me that the States Attorney’s investigation has identified several actions allegedly taken by my predecessor which, if proven, would undermine the integrity of this Office,” Chief of Police Robert Kalamaras said Monday in a prepared statement. “I remain committed to hold not only my employees, but myself, to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity that the Town of Fairfield demands. At this time, I will reserve further comment as this case is still ongoing.”

Some of Lyddy’s communication with former officials about the investigation was discussed in September 2019, when the then-chief told the Board of Police Commissioners he wanted to share specifics of the case with Tetreau in December 2018. However, because Tetreau did not want to be perceived as tampering with the investigation, Lyddy instead brought a draft police report to Hibson, Lyddy said.

In August 2019, Lyddy received a letter from the state’s attorney’s office reminding him to “maintain the integrity of the criminal investigation/prosecution, and to prevent undue influence and interference,” Patch reported at the time. But when Lyddy addressed the board of commissioners the following month, he said he had questioned in December 2018 if certain people should be working for the town and went to Tetreau and Hibson because he thought it was the right thing to do.

Tetreau was adamant in September 2019 that his knowledge of the investigation was limited.

“As troubling as the allegations are, unfortunately they are not completely surprising,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said Monday in a prepared statement. “The individuals charged and named as co-conspirators are no longer employed with the Town of Fairfield, and my administration will continue to fully cooperate with the State’s Attorney’s investigation to root out corruption and restore the public’s confidence in our government.

“On behalf of the taxpayers of Fairfield, I am angry that this was allowed to take place. I remain grateful to the State’s Attorney’s office and law enforcement for their efforts to bring to justice those who broke the law and conspired to violate the public trust.”

Origins of the investigation

The court records filed Friday capture the breadth of the case, detailing how from August 2014 to July 2019, former public works superintendent Scott Bartlett received kickbacks from Julian. The two, along with former public works director Joe Michelangelo, took part in a conspiracy that involved accepting contaminated material at the fill pile and illegally dumping contaminants, including asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls, at town sites, the records said. The trio also collectively forged financial records, including bonds, claims, credit memos and invoices, according to the documents.

Cleanup at the pile and other contaminated sites in town is expected to take years and cost millions of dollars. One such site, confirmed in the court records, is Penfield Beach, which received material containing asbestos.

In 2015, Bartlett instructed public works employees to allow “unacceptable materials” at the fill pile, the records said. The following year, he told Julian to prevent a town resident from contacting Tetreau about the pile and warned Julian that the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was visiting the site, according to records. About the same time, Bartlett suggested to Tetreau that the “worst” material be used to build a berm at the pile, records said.

Bartlett, Michelangelo and Hibson, along with former town contractor Robert Grabarek and former conservation director Brian Carey, are accused of illegally disposing of PCBs and going against the state environmental department during and in relation to the construction of the berm in 2018, according to court records. Carey, Michelangelo and Grabarek collectively misrepresented to state and town officials, as well as to the public, the cost of the berm, when it was built, how contaminated it was and if there were PCBs in the material used to construct it, records said.

Carey assured the public that the berm did not contain PCBs, according to court documents, while Grabarek told public works employees to mix, bury and conceal PCBs.

Bartlett, Michelangelo and Carey also face charges in connection with claims that they conspired to dump waste dredged from Owen Fish Pond at the fill pile around the time the berm was being built, court records said.

“The filing of a long-form information is standard procedure in cases of this complexity,” said attorney Eugene Riccio, who is representing Michelangelo and declined to comment further on the documents.

Attorneys for the other five co-defendants facing charges associated with the pile either declined to comment or did not respond to a message seeking comment. The prosecutor for the case did not respond to an email requesting comment. All six co-defendants are due in court Aug. 31.

Mayer, who is accused of stealing pile-related documents from a town building and forging a voucher, is separately in the process of applying for a rehabilitation program that could see the charges dismissed. His next court date is set for Aug. 2.