A former city employee in Stamford has pleaded guilty and agreed to be sentenced to five years in prison in connection with stealing more than $300,000 from the city during the administration of then-Mayor Dannel P. Malloy.
Fred Manfredonia was one of three Stamford employees in different departments who were arrested last year in alleged embezzlement cases that were uncovered by the new Republican administration that took office in December 2009.
Manfredonia's arrest became an issue during the gubernatorial election campaign when Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele - a Stamford resident for 50 years - criticized Malloy in late July for a lack of management control after the three employees were charged with stealing more than $400,000 from the city.
Two of the three workers had been named "employee of the month'' during the Malloy years, and one of them - Manfredonia - was photographed with Malloy as they smiled during the employee of the month ceremony in June 2005. He was nominated to be employee of the month by Ben Barnes, a longtime colleague of Manfredonia's who is now Malloy's state budget director.
Manfredonia was fired last year amid the embezzlement controversy.
"The question is: who was watching the store when all of this was going on?'' Fedele asked at the time. "What management controls were in place and who was watching when all this took place?''
Fedele was running in the Republican gubernatorial primary at the time, and Malloy was running in the Democratic primary. Malloy's opponent, Ned Lamont of Greenwich, declined to criticize Malloy on the issue.
Malloy emphasized at the time that he was no longer the mayor and did not have additional details on the arrests beyond what he read in the newspaper.
"Obviously, you do your best to set up systems'' of financial controls, Malloy said. "The city's books are audited on a regular basis. Two of those individuals were caught very quickly, and one was not. It's hard to protect people from dishonesty. ... You have systems. No system is foolproof.''
"Let's be fair. None of these people were direct reports to me,'' Malloy said.
Manfredonia's attorney, Philip Russell of Greenwich, told Capitol Watch on Friday that his client will be formally sentenced on March 3 under the plea agreement. He said that Manfredonia is trying to avoid any protracted civil cases with the city over potential restitution.
"His pension has been forfeited,'' Russell said. "He's making no claim for pension benefits.''
Knowing that a prison sentence was likely in the case, Manfredonia agreed to be incarcerated in advance of his sentencing and has been serving time since September 20, Russell said.
Until Manfredonia's arrest, he had been deemed as a good employee as the human resources director, Russell said.
"He was a go-to guy in city government because he was trusted and he was good at solving problems,'' Russell said. "He was a trusted city employee, and the city leaders appropriately feel betrayed.''
A former New York City prosecutor who handled homicides and assaults, Russell now practices in a two-attorney Greenwich firm with Stamford resident Kathleen O. Malloy - the new governor's niece.