Pubdate: Sat, 17 Jun 2006
Source: Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT)
Copyright: 2006sMediaNews Group, Inc
Contact:  http://www.connpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/574
Author: Michael P. Mayko
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

FABRIZI FILING 'A MISTAKE'

BRIDGEPORT -- An FBI report that contained allegations of cocaine use 
by Mayor John M. Fabrizi should have been filed under seal, U.S. 
Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor said Friday.

"Unfortunately, it was a mistake that had reverberations," O'Connor 
said. "As soon as we learned it was filed inappropriately, we took 
action to have it immediately sealed."

O'Connor said Fabrizi was not a target of the drug investigation. 
However, the U.S. attorney said he could not comment on whether the 
mayor or anyone else in City Hall is targeted in any other type of 
investigation. "We never do that," he said.

Rather than blame anyone else in his office for filing the documents 
openly, O'Connor took responsibility. "It was unfortunate; we 
addressed it immediately by having the document sealed and I issued 
an apology," he said. But that apology did not go directly to 
Fabrizi. Instead, it went to his attorney, J. Robert Gulash. Gulash 
could not be reached for comment Friday.

"I'm pleased the U.S. attorney released a statement setting the 
record straight," Fabrizi said Friday. "I hope people listen to what 
the U.S. attorney has to say."

He said he has no plans to resign.

On Thursday, when told about the allegations in the FBI report, 
Fabrizi said he had "made some poor choices in my life," but he 
stopped short of saying whether those involved cocaine use.

Asked what the reaction has been to his admission of "poor choices" 
in the past, Fabrizi said people have been kind.

"I've had a supportive reaction," the mayor said.

The now-sealed document is an FBI report on a series of interviews 
with Juan Marrero, an accused drug lord who, with his brother Victor, 
is cooperating in an ongoing investigation into Advertisementcocaine, 
oxycodone, marijuana and steroid trafficking throughout Fairfield 
County and the Naugatuck Valley. So far, 29 people -- including Juan 
and his brother Victor Marrero; Anthony Erodici, a state correction 
officer; Jeffrey Streck, a retired Bridgeport police detective, and 
Shawn Fardy, a Democratic Town Committee member -- have been 
arrested. According to the report, about five months after his arrest 
on Feb. 19, 2005, Juan Marrero told the FBI he supplied Fardy with 
15.5 grams of cocaine in 2004 after the town committee member said 
"Fabrizi was coming over" and "needed a hit." Marrero told the FBI 
that Fardy was a regular customer. He also said that Fardy claimed to 
have a video recording of the mayor using cocaine.

Marrero told the FBI he never sold drugs to the mayor.

While Victor Marrero has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing 
for cocaine trafficking, Juan Marrero has not changed his innocent 
plea despite his cooperation.

Fardy and Erodici also maintain their innocence. Streck has pleaded 
guilty to conspiring to distribute oxycodone and is awaiting 
sentencing later this month.

Fabrizi, a Democrat, took over as mayor in 2003 after his 
predecessor, Joseph P. Ganim, was convicted of 16 federal corruption 
counts, including extortion, bribery and racketeering. Ganim is 
serving a nine-year sentence in a federal prison camp.

Staff writer Bill Cummings contributed to this report.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman