Ex-West Haven employee John Bernardo gets jail time, ordered to pay $59K in COVID relief fund scheme

Mar. 22—WEST HAVEN — John Bernardo, a former West Haven housing specialist, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 13 months in prison and to pay $58,927.25 in restitution to the city for his role in a scheme to defraud West Haven of most of its $1.2 million federal Coronavirus Relief Fund grant.

Bernardo was the first of four codefendants to be sentenced in connection with the fraud, which targeted funds intended to assist with needs arising from the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Democratic state Rep. Michael DiMassa, who was granted signatory authority over the grant by the City Council, was the common link between three codefendants and pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

U.S. District Court Judge Omar A. Williams noted that the court generally prefers to sentence the most culpable defendant in a conspiracy scheme first, but Bernardo pleaded guilty last June, roughly six months before the final codefendant, John Trasacco, was found guilty at a criminal trial.

Williams said a presentencing report suggested a range of 27 to 33 months of incarceration, but noted that Bernardo is "in a different category" than DiMassa and Trasacco.

"Nobody should take your sentence to suggest some of your codefendants deserve similar leniency," he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller said it was "well-documented" through testimony at Trasacco's trial that Bernardo was not a "minor player" in the scheme, as Bernardo's attorney Gregory Cerritelli had claimed. He noted that Bernardo was part of discussions between DiMassa and Trasacco and had been the one who introduced the pair.

"In Mr. Bernardo's mind he's not a minor player," he said.

Although Bernardo received a total of $48,927.25 from his scheme with DiMassa and an alleged kickback from another codefendant as part of that scheme, Miller said Bernardo's role in the scheme should be evaluated on a "qualitative" basis instead of a quantitative one.

Miller said that, despite Bernardo's decades-long career in the New Haven fire service followed by several years working as a housing specialist in West Haven, Bernardo's actions were "the antithesis of being a firefighter or housing specialist" for robbing the city of funds intended to help the most vulnerable members of the public.

Cerritelli argued that Bernardo had "never found himself on the wrong side of the law" in nearly 67 years and has dedicated his life to saving lives.

"He has courage I can only dream of," he said, and had made "a significant deposit in the bank of good will."

Cerritelli pointed the finger at DiMassa for being the main culprit and said it was "ironic" that DiMassa's cooperation with the government in prosecuting the cases of his codefendants potentially could lead to leniency in his sentence.

In very brief remarks before Williams handed down the sentence, Bernardo apologized to the residents of West Haven and said he was present in court "to be held fully accountable."

West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi, who was present in court with city Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan, submitted a letter on behalf of the city prior to the sentencing. She did not read the letter in court. Cerritelli noted that the letter from the city made no mention that it was seeking incarceration as a penalty for Bernardo's crime.

In Rossi's letter, which she provided to the Register, she said Bernardo had been "a COVID hero" prior to September 2021 for his work on the "front lines" based on his background and experience. However, once Bernardo was arrested and the details of his scheme with DiMassa became public, the negative attention undid most of the positive strides her administration had taken to improve the city's financial standing.

"Mr. Bernardo's arrest resulted in a cascade of negative impact to the City of West Haven. There has been a negative impact to the Bond Rating, business and economic development and negative media on a national level," she wrote. "The State has now increased Municipal Oversight of the City and a significant increase in administrative expenses have resulted from the crimes. The impact will be felt for a generation."

Rossi said Bernardo had decided to file legal action with the State Department of Labor to receive his accrued time off, and that that was an attempt to "further harm the West Haven taxpayers," and "West Haven residents want to make sure he gets what is coming to him as well."

Rossi said the city wants a written public apology, community service such as "clean(ing) toilets" or "pick(ing) up trash," immediate payment of restitution, proof that Bernardo filed and paid the proper taxes for the stolen funds, that he be disbarred from Housing and Urban Development work or programs, that he be barred from working or applying for any jobs or contracts in West Haven for 20 years and that he he remain current in all his tax payments for 20 years.

Williams said a letter from Bernardo's colleague from the fire service noted that Bernardo was seriously injured while responding to a call, nearly slipping through floorboards into flames before catching himself on rafters and being lifted up, and he returned to the department after making enough of a recovery to do so.

Although Williams said he did not agree with Cerritelli's argument that Bernardo was a "minor player," he said Bernardo's share of ill-gotten funds was a low percentage of the total scheme. He said DiMassa was the one controlling the money, and Bernardo had been unable to access the funds on his own. He also said Bernardo's public service, including his advocacy to have a chairlift installed in the home of someone who had become newly disabled, further contributed to a reduction of his sentence.

Bernardo is expected to report to prison by May 22 and has 14 days to appeal his sentence. He declined to comment outside the Hartford courthouse building Wednesday.

West Haven resident Elinor Slomba traveled to Hartford to see the sentencing Wednesday. She said she was disappointed that the mayor did not read her letter and did not request prison time. She said that, even if Bernardo were to pay restitution, the money is worth less now than it was in the height of the pandemic.

At his change of plea hearing last summer, Bernardo admitted guilt to his part in the scheme with DiMassa by forming a shell company called Compass Investment Group LLC, which used Bernardo's home address as its business address. DiMassa then walked fraudulent invoices totaling over $636,000 made out to Compass Investment Group LLC through the city's finance department.

State Attorney General William Tong has filed suit to revoke or reduce Bernardo's pension benefits from his time as a firefighter.

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