Southington Business Owner Pleads in $500K Bribery Case

SOUTHINGTON, CT — The owner of a Southington business has entered a guilty plea in a case involving a half-million dollars in construction bribes, a leading prosecutor said Wednesday.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that that Michael Uszakiewicz, 52, of Prospect, waived his right to be indicted and entered a guilty plea to a conspiracy offense related to a bribery scheme.

The plea was made Tuesday in New Haven federal court.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Uszakiewicz is the owner of K&M Fire Protection in Southington. A co-conspirator in the case is Javed Choudhry, who was employed by Building and Land Technology, Inc., or BLT, a construction company in the Stamford area, according to case records.

Between approximately 2011 and 2014, Uszakiewicz and other contractors paid a total of $250,000 to $500,000 in bribes to Choudhry to receive millions of dollars in BLT contracts on construction projects in Stamford, Durham said.

Uszakiewicz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, Durham said. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford on July 9, Durham said.

As part of his guilty plea, Uszakiewicz agreed to forfeit $1,121,106, which was seized from his bank accounts on March 28, 2016, Durham said.

Uszakiewicz is free on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.

On May 16, 2017, Choudhry, of Glastonbury, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. On Jan. 22 of this year, Kevin Dunn, the president of Delmar Electrical Contractors in Watertown, admitted that he also paid bribes to Choudhry and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Both await sentencing.

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