Trumbull Groups Lose Tax-Exempt Status

The federal Internal Revenue Service has announced that 22 Trumbull groups have lost their tax-exempt status, including the Trumbull Democratic Town Committee and the Trumbull Library Foundation.

But the DTC is fixing the problem, said Mary Beth Thornton, Town Council minority leader and a democrat running for first selectman.

"Tax-exempt organizations that fail to file an annual informational return with the IRS for three consecutive years automatically lose their federal tax exemption," a press release from state noted.

Library Director Sue Horton said the library foundation was formed to raise money for the library. But its president, Barry Diamond, was sentenced last year to six years in prison for defrauding more than a dozen Connecticut residents of nearly $1 million in a phony biofuel scheme, the Connecticut Post reported in May 2010.

Diamond, 71, founded Trumbull's Own Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Rotary Club, according to the newspaper.

An additional six years of Diamond's sentence was suspended and he is on probation for five years after that, the Post reported. He and an accomplice must also make restitution.

The rest of the groups are: 

• Trumbull Youth Wrestling Club, 204 Sterling Road
• Life TV Corp., P.O. Box N
• Independent Order of Oddfellows, 58 Loyalty Lodge, 6395 Main St.
• Fairfield County Veterinary, 129 North St.
• CT Network for Developing, 3 Lafayette Drive
• Fairfield County Sheriffs, 115 Canoebrook Road
• The Branches of Blackness Inc., 1020 Old Town Road, Suite 18
• Clem Miner Jr., Memorial Fund, 30 Skyview Drive
• Christian Youth Inc., 8 Dayton Circle
• Wednesday Afternoon Musical Club, Spinning Wheel Road
• True Holiness Deliverance Center, 53 Rocky Hill Road
• State Ballet of CT, P.O. Box 196
• Avanti Owners Association, 1470 Sylvan Ave.
• Trumbull Indian Ledge RC Club, 115 Hurd Road
• Lakeside Camp Inc., 7 Maple St.
• Greater Bridgeport Family Child, 4555 Madison Ave.
• Italian Cultural Foundation, 208 Algonquin Trail
• Fisher House Productions, 57 Regina St.
• Noah's Ark Foundation, 140 Old Dyke Road
• Ancient Order of Hibernian Ladies, 121 Cottage St.