Former Fairfield CFO Pleads Not Guilty, More Charges Expected

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield's former chief fiscal officer, who is accused of stealing records from the Town Hall complex after he was terminated in 2020, has pleaded not guilty.

Robert Mayer's plea was entered Tuesday during a brief arraignment.

Mayer, 79, of New Canaan, is charged with third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, second-degree forgery and evidence tampering.

Earlier in August, his application to participate in an accelerated rehabilitation program that could have resulted in the dismissal of his charges was denied without prejudice. At the time, the judge noted the connection between Mayer's case and an expansive probe of contamination and corruption associated with the mismanagement of the town fill pile. Mayer has been deemed an "uncharged co-conspirator" in that investigation, according to court documents.

During Tuesday's appearance, Mayer's lawyer, Richard Meehan, discussed the prosecution's plans to bring additional charges against Mayer and to file substituted information. Prosecutor Tamberlyn Chapman noted she intended to put forth a motion to seal witness statements and other items related to the case.

Mayer is accused, among other things, of asking a subordinate to alter town vouchers pertaining to Julian Development, the contractor hired to manage the fill pile, Chapman has said. Julian Development Co-Owner Jason Julian is one of the six former town contractors and employees charged in the fill pile investigation, and is alleged to have forged numerous financial records, according to court documents.

Mayer also stole weight tickets and documents that refer to "Julian fill" and "low-quality fill," Chapman has said.

Mayer, along with former first selectman Mike Tetreau and former police chief Christopher Lyddy, was named last month in newly filed court documents as an "uncharged co-conspirator" in the fill pile probe. Mayer, Tetreau and former human resources director Emmet Hibson, who faces several charges, obtained in August 2019 from Lyddy arrest warrant drafts tied to the case, which Mayer then shared with his daughter and the town auditor, Chapman has said.

The town's fill pile problems began in 2013, when Fairfield hired Julian to operate the site and reduce it by 40,000 cubic yards. Instead, the pile tripled in size over three years. Days before the agreement with Julian was set to end, contaminants were discovered on the property.

Police opened an investigation into activity at the pile in 2017. The defendants are accused, among other things, of conspiring to run an illegal dump for contaminated material, allowing fraudulent billing and illegally disposing of polychlorinated biphenyls. Cleanup at the pile and other contaminated sites in town is expected to take years and cost millions of dollars.

Julian, Hibson and codefendants including former public works director Joe Michelangelo, former public works superintendent Scott Bartlett, former conservation director Brian Carey and former town contractor Robert J. Grabarek all had pretrial appearances scheduled for Tuesday. Attorneys met for about an hour behind closed doors with Chapman and Judge Kevin Russo. All seven defendants were issued a new joint court date of Jan. 12, 2022.