Former CT city councilman sentenced to prison for vote tampering on weekends

A former city councilman has been sentenced to spend three weekends in federal prison and a year of probation for voter fraud while running for a seat on the council in 2017 and 2018.

Michael DeFilippo, 38, of Bridgeport, was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine upon his conviction in federal court in New Haven. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

The sentence came after he pleaded guilty to statutory deprivation of rights in May.

The prosecution unsuccessfully argued for a prison sentence.

“This case is not an ordinary misdemeanor case,” the government said in the court filing. “Defendant Michael DeFilippo deliberately struck at the fundamental principles of local democracy. By placing his own political ambition above the will of the voting public, he thwarted the people’s will to enter elected office by fraud.”

DeFilippo served on the city council from June 2018 to July 2021, representing the 133rd District, near the Sacred Heart University campus, according to federal officials. Authorities said he owned several rental properties that he rented out to college students and used the tenants’ names to tamper with votes.

Although city council elections in Bridgeport are typically held in odd-numbered years, the September 2017 primary was held in November 2017 and again in April 2018 due to “repeated absentee ballot irregularities in the Democratic 133rd District primary election,” federal officials said. in question. The general election took place in June 2018.

DeFilippo was elected as one of two Democratic candidates for the 133rd District in April 2018 and was elected to the Bridgeport City Council in June 2018.

Authorities allege DeFilippo stole and tampered with voter registration applications and absentee ballots in the primary and general elections. Authorities said he forged signatures on behalf of some of his tenants and submitted fake election documents to election officials.

“DeFilippo’s conduct caused Bridgeport and Connecticut election officials to act within the law to deprive DeFilippo’s tenants of the right to vote (by counting stolen ballots) and to deprive all 133rd District voters of the right to have their votes fully counted (by diluting the election) This resulted in fraudulent registrations and ballots, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.

DeFilippo won the town committee’s endorsement in his 2017 town council race. He was working as a bartender at the time. DeFilippo also owned multi-family homes that he rented to dozens of students attending nearby Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

He was one of the two top vote-getters in the two-person district. However, the result was overturned due to allegations of absentee voting irregularities by the third-place finisher.

In the second primary, DeFilippo again finished in the top two places, but these results were again annulled due to allegations of ballot fraud.

The court hearing the election objection concluded that DeFilippo had “injected” himself into what became “illegal partisan party interference” and ordered the primary to be held a third time. DeFilippo was again among the top two candidates and won the general election.

DeFilippo was a council member until 2021, when he resigned following criminal charges.