BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A former Bridgeport City Councilman has been sentenced for a civil rights violation related to his run for Bridgeport City Council in 2017 and 2018.
Michael DeFilippo, 38, was sentenced Thursday in New Haven. DeFilippo was ordered to serve one year of probation, including three weekends of incarceration, and to pay a $15,000 fine.
Prosecutors said that from June 2018 until July 2021. while he was on the city council, owned several rental properties that he leased to students at Sacred Heart University in his district.
"Although Bridgeport’s City Council elections are typically held in odd-numbered years, because of repeated absentee ballot irregularities in the Democratic primary for the 133rd District, the September 2017 primary was re-run in November 2017, and re-run again in April 2018, and the general election took place in June 2018.," prosecutors said. "On April 10, 2018, DeFilippo was selected as one of the two Democratic nominees for the 133rd District and, on June 26, 2018, he was elected to the Bridgeport City Council."
During those elections, DeFilippo stole and falsified Voter Registration Applications and absentee balloting documents, forged signatures, and submitted fraudulent election documents to election officials in the name of some of his tenants who resided in the 133rd District.
The actions denied DeFilippo’s tenants of their right to vote, deprived voters in the district of their right to have their votes fully counted by diluting election results with fraudulent registrations and ballots.
On May 6, 2024, DeFilippo pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law.
Doug Stewart is the Digital Executive Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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