A true confession was given on the witness stand at the federal conspiracy trial of former Gov. John Rowland.
Brian Foley, the husband of former congressional candidate Lisa Wilson-Foley, admitted he came up with the idea of having Rowland work undercover as a political consultant for his wife's campaign in 2012.
Foley testified that after he and his wife met with John Rowland, on Sept. 12, 2011, the Foleys concluded it would be bad for Lisa Wilson-Foley's campaign to have the former governor connected to it because of his past conviction. But Foley told the jury he had an idea.
As he had earlier this year, when he was convicted of conspiracy to make illegal campaign contributions, Foley testified that he concocted a plan to hire Rowland for one of his businesses, Apple Healthcare, but to actually have him work for his wife's campaign.
Foley also told the jury he made certain over the next two years that he never wrote any emails that would acknowledge Rowland as really working for the campaign.
In constructing the phony Apple Healthcare agreement, Foley said he made sure to find areas that Roland had expertise in.
"I needed to legitimize it so that, if it was ever examined, it would pass muster," said Foley.
Foley's corporate attorney, Chris Shelton, told him it would still be legal for Rowland to volunteer for the campaign.
On advice from a Washington-based attorney, Foley testified that he insisted the language in the agreement with Rowland specifically needed to state that the agreement had nothing to do with Lisa Wilson-Foley's campaign.
But Shelton advised Foley not to include such language, saying it would call attention to a potential political connection. Ultimately, Foley agreed.
Shelton also told Brian Foley that he would run the consulting agreement through his law office to avoid too many people in Apple Healthcare knowing about the Rowland partnership.
After reaching an agreement in principle, the former governor emailed Foley on Oct. 27, 2011, saying, "Don't remember if I put JGR Associates, LLC, as the company on the draft contract, but it will give us more cover."
While the phony contract said that Rowland would do union work and upper management personnel evaluation for Apple Healthcare, Foley testified Rowland never visited either of Apple's two unionized nursing homes or provided anything more than a simple verbal evaluation of the company's CEO.
During the course of their six-month agreement, Foley told the jury he and Rowland discussed potential union issues for perhaps a total of 15 minutes.
On Nov. 30, 2011, Roland emailed Lisa Wilson-Foley, with a directive.
"I am a volunteer helping you and many other Republican candidates, in case anyone asks," wrote Rowland.
Foley also admitted to the jury that he skirted campaign finance laws, which allows donors to contribute $7,500 to a candidate's campaign. The way he circumvented this regulation was to have family members and friends make donations, in the same $7,500 amount, with promises of reimbursement .
A Hartford Courant commentary by Kevin Rennie in April 2012 mentioned that Lisa Wilson-Foley was possibly tied to Rowland. This made Wilson-Foley's husband nervous, he testified.
Shortly after the Rennie column, former campaign advisor Chris Healey issued "talking points" to Apple Healthcare employees, just in case they were questioned about Rowland's association with either Apple or Lisa Wilson-Foley's congressional campaign.
Foley takes the stand again Tuesday, during which time Rowland's attorneys will have an opportunity to grill him during cross examination.
Federal prosecutors say they are not certain whether they will call on Lisa Wilson-Foley, who was also convicted in March, to testify in the Rowland trial.