Former CT Energy Cooperative CEO Sentenced For Misusing Funds: Feds

GROTON, CT — The former CEO of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Corporation (CMEEC), an energy cooperative that serves southeastern Connecticut towns, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for misusing funds, according to a statement from Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Drew Rankin, 62, will also serve three years of supervised release.

According to prosecutors, Rankin and some members of the CMEEC Board of Directors took lavish trips outside of Connecticut, including trips to the Kentucky Derby in 2015 and 2016, and to a luxury golf resort in West Virginia in 2015.

The trips did not relate to CMEEC business but were "intended to personally benefit Rankin, CMEEC board members and their family members, friends, and associates," according to prosecutors. Costs for the trips, which totaled more than $800,000, included travel expenses, private chartered airfare, first-class hotel accommodations, meals, tickets to sporting events, golf fees, souvenirs, and gifts.

Rankin also underreported the costs of the trips and made other false statements related to how the trips were funded, prosecutors said.

The court will determine restitution at a later date.

Rankin and CMEEC officials James Sullivan and John Bilda were found guilty in a 2021 jury trial of one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds.

Rankin, who is released on $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison July 11.

Sullivan is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, and Bilda is scheduled to be sentenced on May 18.

The CMEEC is a cooperative public corporation that allows municipal electric utilities to join together to provide electric power. The energy cooperative's members include the City of Norwich, the City of Groton, the Borough of Jewett City, the Second Taxing District of the City of Norwalk, the Third Taxing District of the City of Norwalk, and the Town of Bozrah.

Between 2010 and 2015, the CMEEC received more than $9 million dollars from the U.S. Department of Energy. CMEEC member towns also received funds from federal grants. Any excess CMEEC funds are to be returned to the member towns to help keep electricity costs stable for ratepayers.