2 Men Plead Guilty In Success Village Apartments Embezzlement Conspiracy In Stratford: Feds

STRATFORD, CT — Two men have pleaded guilty to a federal charge stemming from an embezzlement conspiracy involving Success Village Apartments, a residential cooperative spanning Stratford and Bridgeport.

Carmine Gentile, 37, of Freehold, New Jersey, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Charles A. Pitcher, 58, of Trumbull, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the same charge. Both entered their pleas before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford.

Success Village Apartments consists of 96 buildings containing 924 residential units in Stratford and Bridgeport.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Pitcher served as general manager of Success Village Apartments and owned and controlled Real Estate Company of New England LLC and Pitcher Enterprises LLC. Gentile is a part owner of Umbrella Mechanical LLC, a New Jersey-registered company that provided commercial and residential plumbing, heating and air conditioning services.

Pitcher was appointed general manager of Success Village Apartments in May 2022 for an annual fee of $250,000. Umbrella began providing plumbing services to the cooperative around June 2022, including work on piping and boilers that supplied heat and hot water to residents.

Federal prosecutors said Pitcher, Gentile and others, including an individual identified as “Person-1” in the criminal information charging Pitcher, participated in an embezzlement conspiracy from about June 2022 through September 2024.

According to court documents, vendors, including Umbrella, submitted fraudulent invoices and payment requests to Success Village Apartments for work that was not performed or at artificially inflated prices.

Pitcher and Person-1 agreed that vendors would divert about 10 percent to 30 percent of payments they received from Success Village Apartments to Pitcher and Person-1 in exchange for receiving work and payments from the cooperative, according to court documents.

Gentile and others prepared or caused to be prepared fraudulent invoices and payment requests that were not the result of a competitive bidding process, according to prosecutors. The invoices included unreasonable markups for some goods and services, charges for goods and services that were not provided and amounts selected by Pitcher and Person-1, prosecutors said.

In addition to his $250,000 annual fee, Pitcher received purported consulting fees from Success Village Apartments despite providing no services in exchange for those payments, according to court documents. Pitcher typically provided a portion of the fees to Person-1.

Umbrella received about $2.63 million in payments from Success Village Apartments, with more than $526,000 diverted to Pitcher and Person-1, according to prosecutors.

In total, Pitcher received more than $403,150 in diverted Success Village Apartments funds associated with more than $3.66 million in payments made by Umbrella and other vendors. He also received at least $232,479.35 in fraudulent consulting fees, according to court documents.

Gentile pleaded guilty Monday and agreed as part of his plea agreement to a forfeiture money judgment of at least $750,000 and restitution of at least $1.5 million. He was released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.

Pitcher pleaded guilty Tuesday and agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of at least $635,629.35 and restitution of at least $2.5 million. He was released on a $250,000 bond pending sentencing.

Conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Riley is prosecuting the case.