Crime & Safety

CT Man Sentenced to 21 Months in Campaign Contribution Scheme

Benjamin Hogan, one of seven indicted for attempting to bribe Donovan aide Robert Braddock Jr. with illegal campaign contributions for favorable legislation, was sentenced to nearly two years in prison Wednesday.

This article was written by Jason Vallee

A Southington man convicted of attempting to bribe former Meriden legislator Chris Donovan's aide will serve 21 months in prison for his role in an ongoing campaign contribution scheme.

U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton issued the sentence Wednesday afternoon in New Haven, handing 33-year-old Waterbury businessman Benjamin Hogan a 21-month imprisonment and $5,000 fine for his attempt to bribe officials to swing legislation in favor of Roll Your Own Tobacco shop owners, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Southington resident, one of seven people indicted in an attempt to bribe a public official, plead guilty to conspiracy charges related to direct illegal campaign contributions made in 2012 during a hearing earlier this year.

Hogan was one of seven individuals that were indicted in July, 2012, when federal officials uncovered a plot to bribe then-Meriden state representative and candidate for U.S. Representative Christopher Donovan. Court documents indicated that the men had reached out to Robert Braddock Jr., Donovan's campaign aide, in an effort to swing legislation their way and prevent growing business costs.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in August 2011, the State of Connecticut applied for a court order enjoining Roll Your Own smoke shops from continuing to operate without complying with state law governing tobacco manufacturers.

Roll Your Own smoke shops are retail businesses that sell loose smoking tobacco and cigarette-rolling materials and offer customers the option of paying a “rental” fee to insert the loose tobacco and the rolling materials into a Roll Your Own machine, which is capable of rapidly rolling large quantities of cigarettes.

Customers did not pay a tax on the Roll Your Own cigarettes when rolled by the machines, in contrast to cigarettes purchased over-the-counter.

"Fearing that the Connecticut General Assembly would enact legislation harmful to RYO smoke shop owners’ business interests during the 2012 legislative session, HOGAN, Paul Rogers, Harry Raymond “Ray” Soucy, David Moffa and others engaged in a scheme to direct conduit campaign contributions into the campaign of a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives," said Tom Carson, spokesman with the Public Information Office with the U.S District Court.  

"The candidate was also a member of the Connecticut General Assembly.  As part of the scheme, the co-conspirators recruited multiple individuals to serve as conduit contributors to the campaign. These individuals permitted checks to be written in their own names to the campaign, and Rogers, Hogan and other conspirators reimbursed them with cash, thereby concealing the fact that Roll Your Own smoke shop owners were contributing to the campaign," he said.

Last month, Donovan's aide Robert Braddock Jr. was sentenced to serve 38 months in prison for his role. Federal officials never charged Donovan in the scheme and he has indicated he had no knowledge of the efforts. 


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