Contractor who hired Kosta Diamantis’ daughter gets probation

One of three school construction contractors who admitted to bribing Connecticut’s former deputy budget director, Konstantinos Diamantis, was sentenced to two years of probation in federal court in Bridgeport on Wednesday.

Antonietta DiBenedetto Roy, the owner of a company called Construction Advocacy Professionals, previously admitted to paying Diamantis thousands of dollars and hiring his daughter so that her company could win contracts on school building projects that he oversaw.

The charge that DiBenedetto Roy pleaded guilty to — conspiracy to commit bribery — could have carried a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. The federal sentencing guidelines recommended that she serve between 2 to 2 1/2 years in prison.

But U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill handed down a far lighter sentence for DiBenedetto Roy, which had been requested by her defense attorney and federal prosecutors.

The sentence will mean that DiBenedetto Roy will be remain out of prison. The judge ordered her to obey a curfew for the first six months, however.

Before the sentence was handed down, DiBenedetto Roy struggled through tears and told the judge that she was deeply sorry for taking part in the bribery scheme with Diamantis, who was convicted on 21 federal charges last year but fled to Greece before he could be sentenced earlier this fall.

“I’m ashamed and embarrassed to be standing in front of you today,” DiBenedetto Roy said.

DiBenedetto Roy’s attorney, Craig Raabe, told the judge that his client has already faced significant damage as a result of her guilty plea and the corresponding news coverage surrounding the public corruption scheme.

“She’s already paid a very serious price,” Raabe said, noting that her construction company has lost clients and work in the industry.

Even more, Raabe argued that his client only became involved in the bribery scheme because of the pressure placed on her by Diamantis, who ran Connecticut’s school construction program for more than six years. Prior to her involvement with Diamantis, Raabe argued, DiBenedetto Roy was an upstanding citizen.

“She got sidetracked by getting into the vortex of Diamantis,” Raabe told the judge.

When Assistant U.S. Attorney David Novick spoke, he reminded DiBenedetto Roy and the judge that the crime she pleaded guilty to was a serious offense. But he agreed that Roy should receive some leniency because of her cooperation with federal investigators and assistance in helping to convict Diamantis.

DiBenedetto Roy testified for several hours last year during Diamantis’ criminal trial and told jurors that she hired Diamantis’ daughter and paid her bonuses in order to continue winning school construction contracts. She also explained how she delivered checks and cash to Diamantis.

Novick told the judge that his team may not have been able to convict Diamantis for that scheme without DiBenedetto Roy’s assistance.

Underhill ultimately agreed with that point, and he said that DiBenedetto Roy should get credit for cooperating with the federal investigation and taking responsibility for her crimes.

Before he sentenced DiBenedetto Roy, however, the judge acknowledged how serious her crimes were.

“Public corruption is an evil that has to be rooted out,” Underhill said. “That’s what this larger case is all about.”

Ultimately, Underhill laid the blame for the bribery scheme at the feet of Diamantis, who is facing seven years in federal prison if he is ever apprehended and returned to the United States.

“It’s unfortunate that you did the right thing after doing the wrong thing,” Underhill told DiBenedetto Roy.

DiBenedetto Roy is the first school construction contractor to be sentenced for conspiring with Diamantis. But she won’t be the last.

Later this month, John Duffy and Sal Monarca, two masonry contractors who also testified against Diamantis, are scheduled to be in court to face their federal sentences.