NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A political consultant was sentenced to prison Thursday for defrauding a candidate in the 2017 New Haven probate judge race.
Victor Cuevas, 58, of Waterbury, was sentenced to eight months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to defraud a New Haven Probate Judge candidate in 2017.
Officials said Cuevas worked with a Connecticut-based political consulting business called Yellow Dog Strategies which in 2017 was paid $5,750 to collect 1,000 petition signatures from registered Democrats in New Haven in support of a probate judge primary candidate.
Officials said Cuevas conspired with others to defraud the candidate by submitting falsified petition forms and a Statement of Authenticity.
Cuevas had the falsified forms delivered to the candidate, who was unaware of the forgeries. The candidate submitted those petitions to be counted. The New Haven Democratic Registrar of Voters quickly detected forged signatures in the petitions. Upon learning that voter signatures had been forged, the candidate withdrew from the primary.
The Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission started an investigation and federal officials said when Cuevas learned of that investigation, he and his co-conspirators attempted to conceal their scheme by pressuring the fictitious Circulator, whose signature had been forged, to sign a false affidavit.
The judge ordered Cuevas to pay $5750 in restitution.
Cuevas, a former Connecticut State Representative, was on federal probation at the time of the offense. In October 2016, he was sentenced in New Haven federal court to one year of probation and a $1,000 fine for conspiring with others to commit bank fraud in connection with his home mortgage loan applications.
On October 25, 2022, Cuevas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Cuevas, who is released on a $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison on September 5.
Doug Stewart is the Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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