Key Takeaways
- • New Britain is demanding $241,560 from former Mayor Erin Stewart to recover tuition reimbursements, severance payments, and investigation legal costs, with an additional demand expected for approximately $207,076 in city credit card purchases deemed personal use.
- • The city's corporation counsel has notified Stewart that her pension, calculated in violation of the city charter, will not be honored; former tax collector Cheryl Blogoslawski faces identical pension revocation.
- • An investigation by the Crumbie Law Group concluded that Stewart engaged in "repeated and deliberate circumvention" of the city's purchase order system over nearly a decade, with the "great majority" of credit card purchases unrelated to city business.
- • Stewart's gubernatorial campaign ended May 14, the same day the investigation findings became public, potentially exposing her to criminal prosecution and derailing her Republican nomination bid at the GOP convention.
Summary
New Britain has initiated formal restitution proceedings against former Mayor Erin Stewart, demanding immediate repayment of $241,560 in alleged improper benefits and associated investigation costs. The demand, detailed in a June 4 letter from Corporation Counsel William C. Rivera acting on behalf of current Mayor Bobby Sanchez, represents the opening salvo in a multi-pronged financial recovery effort that also targets a second significant liability.
Stewart faces an anticipated second demand for repayment of approximately $207,076 in personal purchases made on a city credit card during her final decade as mayor. According to the Crumbie Law Group investigation commissioned by Sanchez, the vast majority of these transactions—totaling nearly a decade of spending—were unrelated to municipal business and represented "repeated and deliberate circumvention of the city's purchase order system to benefit herself, members of her family, and her political campaigns." The city has not yet quantified the exact repayment obligation pending completion of the firm's ongoing review.
Beyond financial recovery, the city has simultaneously revoked pension benefits for both Stewart and former Tax Collector Cheryl Blogoslawski, with both pensions determined to have been calculated in violation of city charter provisions. These dual actions reflect a comprehensive administrative response to findings that Stewart systematically inflated her income over 12 years through improper tuition reimbursements, severance arrangements, and undisclosed personal expenditures charged to municipal accounts.
The investigation findings precipitated Stewart's withdrawal from the Republican gubernatorial race on May 14, eliminating her from consideration for the GOP nomination at the convention held one month later. The Crumbie Law Group report exposed potential criminal liability beyond the civil restitution claims, adding significant legal jeopardy to the former mayor's personal and financial standing.
Stewart faces an anticipated second demand for repayment of approximately $207,076 in personal purchases made on a city credit card during her final decade as mayor. According to the Crumbie Law Group investigation commissioned by Sanchez, the vast majority of these transactions—totaling nearly a decade of spending—were unrelated to municipal business and represented "repeated and deliberate circumvention of the city's purchase order system to benefit herself, members of her family, and her political campaigns." The city has not yet quantified the exact repayment obligation pending completion of the firm's ongoing review.
Beyond financial recovery, the city has simultaneously revoked pension benefits for both Stewart and former Tax Collector Cheryl Blogoslawski, with both pensions determined to have been calculated in violation of city charter provisions. These dual actions reflect a comprehensive administrative response to findings that Stewart systematically inflated her income over 12 years through improper tuition reimbursements, severance arrangements, and undisclosed personal expenditures charged to municipal accounts.
The investigation findings precipitated Stewart's withdrawal from the Republican gubernatorial race on May 14, eliminating her from consideration for the GOP nomination at the convention held one month later. The Crumbie Law Group report exposed potential criminal liability beyond the civil restitution claims, adding significant legal jeopardy to the former mayor's personal and financial standing.
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