Former Middlebury Fire Chief Sentenced in $26,000 Embezzlement Case: U.S. Attorney

MIDDLEBURY, CT — Paul Perrotti, 49, Middlebury's former fire chief, was sentenced to three month in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, in connection with embezzling nearly $26,000 from the department and town, United States Attorney Deirdre M. Daly announced Monday.

Additionally, Perrotti, a Middlebury resident, must also perform 200 hours of community service during his supervised release, ordered U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer.

In July of 2015, Perrotti was found guilty of two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, according to Daly. He served as chief of the Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department from 1997 to 2014, and is also a licensed electrical contractor and owner of Paul Perrotti Electric, LLC. (“PPE”).

"In 2012 and 2013, Perrotti used Town funds to pay for unauthorized personal expenses and for expenses associated with PPE," according to a release from Daly's office. "These payments included checks made directly payable to employees of PPE, checks made to various vendors of PPE for PPE-related supplies, and checks made to pay third parties, who ultimately passed on the payments to Perrotti. [He] also submitted invoices to the Town of Middlebury for expenses that he falsely claimed were incurred by MVFD but, in fact, were expenses related to the business of PPE, including bills for various vendors of PPE."

In a post-trial ruling, Judge Meyer found that Perrotti "embezzled $25,746 from the Town and the MVFD."

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Karwan and Heather Cherry.

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