SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

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DONOVAN: No word from house speaker

Continued from Page One represent Democrats. He wielded the power of his position. He had decades of experience and staunch union backing. He took the May 14 convention endorsement by a wide margin. Donovans campaign faltered with the May 30 arrest of his campaign finance manager, and subsequent arrests of additional close associates, in an alleged scheme to broker Donovans political influence in return for $30,000 in secret campaign cash. Donovan has not been accused by federal authorities and insists he knew nothing of the suspected plot. Esty and former candidate Daniel Roberti capitalized on the scandal in scathing campaign mailers and commercials. Attempts to reach Donovan and his campaign manager Tom Swan this week have been unsuccessful. As of Friday morning, Donovan had not surrendered his ballot position with the Working Families Party. He has also not offered his support to Esty, in contrast to defeated Republican hopefuls who have rallied to State Sen. Andrew W. Roraback, R-Goshen. Taylor Leake, communications director for the Connecticut Working Families Party, said Thursday that party officials still need to speak with Donovan about the possibility of continuing his bid for Congress. There are several things we have to talk about and that hasnt happened yet, Leake said. Estys campaign has yet to reach out to Donovan, apart from a brief and cordial conversation Tuesday night in which Donovan offered his concession and congratulations, Esty Campaign Manager Julie Sweet said. Sweet said Estys camp is respecting Donovans vacation after the contentious primary. We will love to sit down and have that opportunity to talk with him, Sweet said. Ultimately, we are working hard to build the big-tent coalition that Democrats are known for. We would welcome the Speaker into that coalition. Since the primary, Donovan allies have been calling to offer support, Sweet said. These include, among others, Waterbury Democratic Town Committee Chairman Edmund Cullinan and State Rep. Michelle L. Cook, D-Torrington. Those are the calls that are most important, Sweet said. It shows the party in Connecticut and the district is really pulling together because they are committed to keeping the seat blue and they know Elizabeth is a great candidate. Sweet said the campaign has also heard from the states congressional delegation, and national Democratic leaders as well, including Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and others. Estys staff is also reaching leaders of statewide unions at the core of Donovans support. Sweet noted there are processes to follow and applications to be made for union endorsements. Support is not automatic now that Esty is the Democratic candidate, Sweet said. John Olsen, president of the AFL-CIO, a federation of about 200,000 Connecticut union members, said the groups 100-member executive board will meet Wednesday to set strategy in the 5th District and elsewhere. While careful to say an Esty endorsement is not a foregone conclusion, he thinks its likely. Olsen said he also wants to talk with Donovan before the meeting. He doesnt see Donovan continuing in the race. Its not the best path to victory, he said. I dont think people are looking to encourage Donovan to run as a third-party candidate, Olsen said. Olsen remains a Donovan booster. I believe he is a good, hardworking, guy and he got caught at the wrong time in the wrong place on this investigation, Olsen said. After this is all over, I think this guy has a stellar record. Visit rep-am.com to comment on this story.

INVASION: Ex-butler sentenced

Continued from Page One wanted to take the stand in his own defense but his attorneys persuaded him not to. Nicolescus new attorney, New York-based Gerald J. McMahon, said he intended to file an appeal. Nicolescu will continue to be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York while the appeal is being prepared and will then be moved to Fort Dix, N.J. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release after his prison term, but will pay no fine. I would have told him to get up on the stand, McMahon said. Nicolescu, his friends and family have been silent on the details of the crime, while a mountain of evidence lead the jury to conASSOCIATED PRESS Bass vict him months ago, said Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick. After the stolen Jeep was found abandoned in the parking lot of The Home Depot in New Rochelle, N.Y., investigators took a DNA sample from the steering wheel that partially matched Nicolescus DNA, according to court testimony. Nicolescu was no longer working for Bass when she bought the Jeep. A knife handmade for Nicolescu by his former father-inlaw also washed up in an accordion case filled with oth-

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Aerial view of the Anne H. Bass estate in Kent. er tools of the crime, including syringes, an Airsoft gun and a telephone card with Basss address on it, according to testimony. Cellphone records showed calls between Nicolescu and other suspected co-conspirators before and after the invasion. Prosecutors pointed to the use of walkie-talkies during the invasion as something Nicolescu must have planned for, knowing the estate had little cellphone reception. Bass and Lethbridge were not present Friday, in part because they wanted to avoid media scrutiny and the trauma of reliving their experience again in court, Novick said. At various points during the lengthy ordeal, Bass and Lethbridge thought they were about to be killed and worried about Bass 3-year-old grandchild sleeping down the hall, they testified in March. They were represented by Alex V. Hernandez, an attorney with Pullman & Comley in Bridgeport. Hernandez asked for a sentence long enough to motivate Nicolescu to cooperate with authorities in the investigation and prosecution of the other intruders, who have not been arrested. Allan Mayer, a spokesman

for the couple, said they were relieved Nicolescu had been sentenced. While no one can undo what happened that night, Mr. Nicolescu is certainly in a position to answer many unanswered questions, Mayer wrote in a statement. Both Mrs. Bass and Mr. Lethbridge hope that someday he will do so and thereby help bring to justice the other individuals who executed this cowardly incident with him as well as anyone else who may have directed, organized, or financed it.

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FRIENDLY: Prostitution negotiations heard

Continued from Page One apparently discussing the deal in lurid detail. Ottanio-King, of 145 Willow Springs, was released for a court date in Bantam Superior Court on Monday. Carrier, of 426 Emmett St, is due at a later date. Its never happened here before and we dont want it to happen again, the restaurants manager, who identified himself as Steven said. Offering sex for sale and patronizing a prostitute are Class A misdemeanors in Connecticut but few such cases are

seen in the Litchfield court system. Permitting prostitution at a premises is also a crime. All are punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,000 fine.