{news} Mayor's Drug Admission Puts Rumors In The Open

[clifford thornton]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-fabrizi0621.artjun21,0,6766421.story?coll=hc-headlines-local<http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-fabrizi0621.artjun21,0,6766421.story?coll=hc-headlines-local>

      CONNECTICUT NEWS 

Mayor's Drug Admission Puts Rumors In The Open
June 21, 2006 
By EDMUND H. MAHONY, Courant Staff Writer 

      While Bridgeport Mayor John Fabrizi emotionally admitted to city employees on Tuesday that he had abused cocaine and was seeking treatment, some political insiders were calling the mayor's drug use an open secret and his admission long overdue.

      Gossip about Fabrizi's drug use - he has been referred to as a bon vivant in his hometown newspaper - has been part of the city's political fabric since the 1990s.

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      In 1998, with then-Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim floating his name as a gubernatorial candidate, then-city council President Fabrizi sought local political advice on how to best position himself for a move into the mayor's office.

      "Get rid of the nose candy," one of the political insiders recalls telling Fabrizi.

      The insider said Fabrizi was told that voters could accept reports that he enjoyed a few cocktails - Fabrizi also said Tuesday that he has given up alcoholic beverages - but that persistent rumors about illegal drug use could be toxic to his political aspirations.

      A year later, Bridgeport restaurateur Michael Rizzitelli, whom mutual acquaintances called a close friend of Fabrizi's, was found dead in his home from acute cocaine intoxication.

      In 2005, not long after prosecutors disclosed a sweeping narcotics distribution case in Bridgeport, a gaggle of news reporters alternated between city hall and the federal courthouse, chasing rumors that Fabrizi would be charged or, at a minimum, chased out of office by allegations of drug use. Political supporters again advised him to disclose that he had a drug problem and was seeking treatment, according to a Bridgeport political source.

      Fabrizi was not charged with anything. But apparently there was something to the media's suspicions. The same narcotics prosecution, targeting brothers Juan and Victor Marrero, prompted Fabrizi's admission a year later.

      The U.S. attorney's office said earlier this week that it inadvertently made public an FBI document in which Juan Marrero told agents an alleged drug dealing colleague of his claimed to have a video recording of the mayor using cocaine. 

      When reporters for the Connecticut Post in Bridgeport confronted Fabrizi with the videotape claim, it set off the events leading to the mayor's admission Tuesday.

      Juan Marrero reportedly told FBI agents that the man who claimed to have the video is Shawn Fardy, a political colleague of Fabrizi's.

      Fardy, who was indicted two weeks ago on allegations of conspiring to distribute cocaine, was a member of Bridgeport's Democratic Town Committee until his resignation this week. A legal source familiar with the drug cases said Tuesday that Fardy denies having a videotape showing Fabrizi using drugs and denies ever claiming that he did.

      After examining the records of Fabrizi's city-issued cellular telephone, reporters for the Post found that someone using the phone called Fardy 13 times between October and December 2004. At about the same time, telephone records filed by prosecutors in federal court show, Fardy was calling Juan Marrero to obtain cocaine that he then passed onto customers.

      After first denying that he knew Fardy, Fabrizi this week conceded to the Post that Fardy is a friend of his brother, Mark. And the mayor acknowledged calling Fardy on occasion.

      Fabrizi's admission of drug use could be used in court, said Jeffrey Meyer, an associate law professor at Quinnipiac University and a federal prosecutor until 2004.

      "To me it's difficult to imagine our federal and state prosecutorial authorities are simply going to stand by and have one of the most prominent elected officials in Connecticut admit to this kind of illegal conduct without any kind of criminal sanction," said Meyer.

      U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor said last week that Fabrizi was not a target of the drug investigation that led to the filing in court of the FBI report containing the videotape allegation. He said FBI reports, which summarize statements made by witnesses but are not always corroborated, are typically filed under seal and apologized to Fabrizi for the release.

      "Nothing has changed from the U.S. attorney's comments on Friday," Tom Carson, a spokesman for the office, said Tuesday.

      Some adversaries have called for Fabrizi to resign, while supporters pressed him to be more forthcoming after he said last week he had "made poor choices in the past."

      Cecil Young, a city sheriff who listened to Fabrizi's address, said the mayor had misled voters for nearly two years and should resign.

      "He needs help," Young said, adding that he wants proof Fabrizi sought treatment from a licensed professional. "If I was busted for something like that, I would lose my job."

      Dr. Jay Berkowitz, a psychiatrist who works with substance abuse patients and a friend of Fabrizi's, said he arranged for the mayor to get drug treatment. "He's made every appointment," Berkowitz said. "He's been very compliant with his treatment."

      Keith Rodgerson, a Democratic city councilman, said he expected Fabrizi's past drug use would be a new wrinkle in the city's already notorious political culture.

      "Bridgeport politics is real rough and tumble and bloody," he said. "I think that this will just make it all the more bloodier come the mayor's re-election."



      Courant Staff Writer Arielle Levin-Becker and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

      Contact Edmund H. Mahony at emahony at courant.com. 


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