New Canaan Man, A Former CFO, Denied Probation

NEW CANAAN, CT — A New Canaan man who is also Fairfield’s former chief fiscal officer will not be allowed to participate in a rehabilitation program that could have resulted in his many felony charges being dismissed — at least not right now. But he may have the chance to apply for the program again, as his case moves forward.

While Judge Kevin Doyle said he did not think Robert Mayer, 79, was likely to re-offend, Doyle felt the accusations of forgery against Mayer were too serious to allow for accelerated rehabilitation, and denied without prejudice Mayer’s request to take part in the program.

Mayer, who is accused of stealing records from Fairfield’s Town Hall complex following his termination in January 2020, is charged with third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny and evidence tampering, in addition to second-degree forgery.

“I’m not here to make a finding if you’re guilty or not guilty,” Doyle said Monday in court, remarking upon 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.

Mayer asked a subordinate to alter town vouchers pertaining to Julian Development, the contractor hired to manage the fill pile, according to Prosecutor Tamberlyn Chapman. Julian Development Co-Owner Jason Julian is one of the six former town contractors and employees charged in the fill pile investigation, and is accused of forging numerous financial records, court documents said.

Mayer also stole weight tickets, some of which have yet to be recovered, Chapman said, adding Mayer additionally took documents that refer to “Julian fill” and “low-quality fill.”

The town auditor found the vouchers to be appropriate, Mayer’s attorney, Richard Meehan, argued, adding that weight tickets weren’t even kept in Mayer’s office.

“There’s no evidence here,” he said, accusing Chapman of trying to “pile it on.”

Another topic of discussion Monday was the extent of Mayer’s involvement in the Penfield Pavilion project, the mishandling of which cost the town more than $4 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency grant funding. Asbestos and heavy metal have been found under the pavilion, Chapman said, although Meehan noted the contamination was not the reason for the FEMA denial.

Mayer, former first selectman Mike Tetreau and former police chief Christopher Lyddy, were named last month in newly filed court documents as “uncharged co-conspirators” 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, according to Chapman.

“The state feels it was a good decision today,” Chapman said Monday.

Doyle said he questioned the validity of the burglary charge against Mayer, and struggled when considering the possible ties between Mayer and the fill pile co-defendants. The ongoing discovery process in the broader fill pile investigation may also lead to new charges, which could affect Mayer’s eligibility for accelerated rehabilitation, the judge said.

First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick — who wrote a letter to Doyle that opposed allowing Mayer to take part in the program — said Monday she was grateful to the judge, adding Mayer’s case included “vitally important” information in the context of the larger fill pile controversy.

Meehan disagreed.

“He has nothing to do whatsoever with the fill pile,” Meehan said. “They were innocuous papers.”

Had Mayer been allowed to enter accelerated rehabilitation, he would have been placed on an informal probation for up to two years, and the charges against him would have been dropped, were he compliant.

Doyle opted Monday to move Mayer’s case to Bridgeport’s Main Street courthouse, where Mayer is next set to appear Aug. 31, the same court date as the other six men charged as part of the fill pile investigation.

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.