Verdict Reached Against Dillon Stadium Redevelopment Principal

HARTFORD, CT — A principal in a scheme to redevelop Hartford’s Dillon Stadium and put a professional soccer team in the new venue has been found guilty of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering, a leading prosecutor said.

Deirdre M. Daly, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced Thursday that a federal jury in Bridgeport found James Duckett Jr, 45, guilty of the offenses.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill began on June 26.

According to evidence at trial, in September 2014, the City of Hartford entered into a professional services agreement with Mitchell Anderson and his company, Premier Sports Management Group, to secure a professional soccer team and to develop a new, 9,000-seat facility at the Dillon Stadium location.

Under the terms of the agreement, PSMG was entitled to receive $775,000 for serving as the project manager for the $12 million plan, Daly said.

In February 2015, Anderson joined up with Duckett, who agreed to be the majority owner of the team.

Duckett and Anderson told various city officials that PSMG and Duckett’s Black Diamond Consulting Group had merged for purposes of completing the Dillon Stadium project and securing the soccer team, Daly said.

Duckett showed off a resume indicating he was a former professional football player in the NFL and that Black Diamond was involved in a casino project and sports-related projects in Las Vegas and Atlanta, Daly said.

Beginning in approximately March 2015, Anderson submitted invoices to the city for reimbursement to PSMG subcontractors working on the project, Daly said

Rather than paying the total amounts owed to PSMG’s subcontractors, Duckett and Anderson directed more than $1 million that PSMG received from the city to themselves, PSMG, Black Diamond, and other entities not related to the Dillon Stadium project, Daly said.

Duckett and Anderson also secured invoices from subcontractors who had not performed work for the project and made it seem as if the work had been performed. They then then illegally used the proceeds of the fraud in a series of bank transactions to pay individuals and companies for expenses unrelated to Dillon Stadium, she said.

The investigation revealed that Duckett used funds that the city provided to PSMG to purchase a Range Rover that cost approximately $120,000, to pay unrelated attorneys’ fees and a $20,000 “finder’s fee” to an individual, and for other personal expenses including luxury clothing and jewelry items, according to trial evidence.

The jury found Duckett guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and eight counts of conducting illegal monetary transactions. The jury found Duckett not guilty of one count of conducting illegal monetary transactions.

Each of the conspiracy and wire fraud counts carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and each count of conducting illegal monetary transactions carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, Daly said.

A sentencing date is not yet scheduled.

Duckett was arrested on June 23, 2016, and is currently released on bond, on home detention with electronic monitoring.

On February 6, 2017, Anderson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and one count of conducting illegal monetary transactions. He awaits sentencing.

Anderson has agreed to make restitution in the total amount of $1,134,595.37 to the City of Hartford and two subcontractors of the Dillon Stadium project, according to a court order.

Photo Credit: Black Diamond