A call to Cappiello on Monday was returned by Adam Bauer, a spokesman for his campaign for the 5th District congressional seat currently held by Democrat Chris Murphy.
"David's happy that justice has been served," Bauer said of Galante's plea.
Cappiello throwing out his surrogate to the wolves to read a short statement isn't going to cut it. Out of all the charges against Galante, he plead "no contest" to the charge against of making illegal bundled campaign contributions TO CAPPIELLO.
For those not in the know, here's a timeline that shows how closely Cappiello (and former State Senator Lou DeLuca) were connected to Galante.
- 2007 -- After a story broke about his PAC receiving Galante money, Cappiello lied about when he donated the money to charity. (Hartford Courant, October 13, 2007) (Associated Press State & Local Wire, October 12, 2007) (FEC.gov)
- 2007 -- Cappiello was Against New Plans to Regulate Refuse Industry. After Galante's indictment, Cappiello opposed proposals for licensing trash haulers. (Danbury News-Times, June 12, 2007)
- 2005 -- Cappiello and DeLuca were two of just three senators to oppose a bill to expand the state's bottle bill by also letting water bottles be redeemed for deposit. A massive lobbying effort then killed the bill in the House, led by Sullivan & LeShane. While they represented the beverage industry, they were also representing Galante companies, and this bill would have hurt his bottom line by reducing municipal reliance upon curbside recycling. Sullivan & LeShane have boasted how they have defeated this expansion of the bottle bill, beginning in 1999. (Connecticut Common Cause, September 27, 2005)
- 2004 -- Cappiello Voted Against Reforming "Evergreen" Contracts. One of the abusive features of Galante's company contracts were "evergreen" clauses, which he used in Connecticut even after such contracts had been outlawed in Westchester and New York City. In 2004, Cappiello voted in Judiciary Committee against SB 399, "An Act Concerning... Automatic Renewal of Consumer Contracts." (http://www.cga.ct.gov/2004/jfr/s/2004SB-00399-R00JUD-JFR.htm) (New York Times, August 12, 2001)
- 2002 -- Cappiello solicited James Galante to contribute $100,000 at a Red Cross Fundraiser that raised $117,000. Cappiello and DeLuca repeatedly worked together in soliciting and honoring Galante; both were members of the "Italian-American Legislative Caucus."
- 2002 -- Cappiello took $15,000 in illegally funneled money from Galante for his State Senate PAC. Cappiello spent $202 at Danbury wine & liquor to thank Galante with "bottles of wine or champagne" (Hartford Courant, October 12, 2007) (Politico.com, November 5, 2007) (Hartford Courant, October 12, 2007)
- 2002 -- Italian American Legialtive Caucus, of which Cappiello is Treasurer, gives Galante its highest award. The ceremony was held in a room off the legislative chambers, just over two years after Galante had served time in Prison for tax evasion. (Danbury News-Times, 3/29/02) (Hartford Courant, 9/19/99)
Cappiello can't hide from his past and should be called by the press to answer questions about his relationship with Galante and throwing out his surrogate isn't going to cut it. Unlike Mark Boughton, as a State Senator, David Cappiello was in a unique position to help Galante's trash empire and the timeline suggest the possibility that Cappiello and DeLuca did just that.
To this date, Cappiello hasn't talked about his relationship with DeLuca, the instances in the timeline, and whether or not mislead people in terns of when he gave the tainted Galante donations to charity.
Speaking of questions, while Cappiello dodges questions on Galante, in this current economic environment, where foreclosures are happening right and left, maybe Cappiello (a MORTGAGE BROKER) could talk about his ties to First Magnus Corp (a.k.a. Charter Funding) and whether or not he signed off on any bad loans for that company.
Charter Funding, it turns out, is a business name of a secretive Tuscon, Arizona-based subprime lendor, First Magnus Corp. First Magnus is a privately-held lendor that operates around the country under literally dozens of different names, often within the same state. It is a registered foreign-owned corporation, but I'm not sure who its shareholders are.
In any event, First Magnus mortgage shops are franchised out to people like Cappiello (who can apply for franchises and broker licenses online), who then market mortgages (again, mainly subprime) typically to people who have no business getting mortgages.
A number of franchisees have been prosecuted for fraud.
On August 21, First Magnus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and posted the following on its website.In light of the collapse of the secondary mortgage market, First Magnus will not fund any future mortgage loans, and is no longer accepting any mortgage loan applications or funding any mortgage loans previously originated and not yet funded. We explored all options before taking this action but were left with no viable alternative.
First Magnus values the relationships we have formed with all of our broker partners over the years and appreciate the trust you have shown in us. We are saddened that we will no longer have the opportunity to work with you.
For information about loans already submitted to First Magnus, please contact us at 520.618.9000 or call our toll-free hotline number: 1.866.901.7655.
My question: how many of these bad loans were written by Sen. Cappiello?
How many people have lost their homes because of shady ARMs he handed out?
More importantly... were any of the loans issued under predatory or fraudulent circumstances?
Is Blumenthal's office investigating Chater / First Magnus? Is Cappiello out of work?
It's not every day that a major mortgage lender collapses, and it's not every day that a major mortgage lender employing a major congressional candidate collapses.
...oh I forgot, a cat caught Cappiello's tongue.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
