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A lawyer for former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland asked a federal appeals court Friday to overturn his client’s corruption conviction, arguing the government too broadly applied a federal law. But a government lawyer told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City that the conviction should stand, claiming prosecutors rightly charged the Republican with falsifying documents to hide political work he did in two congressional campaigns. Rowland was sentenced to 2½ years in prison last year for allegedly conspiring to disguise work he did on a failed 2012 congressional campaign and a 2010 campaign. This is the...

Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a political consulting scheme on Wednesday, exactly one decade after he was ordered behind bars in an earlier scandal that forced him from office. Rowland, once a rising star in the Republican Party, committed the latest crimes as he maneuvered to insert himself in two separate congressional political campaigns. He was convicted in September on charges that he conspired to conceal payment for the work, which he knew would bring unwelcome publicity to the candidates because of his criminal history. Prosecutors said Rowland was...

HARTFORD, Conn. — A one-time top aide to former Gov. John G. Rowland (search) was indicted Thursday along with a major construction contractor on charges they operated a criminal organization out of the governor's office. The 15-count indictment accuses former co-chief of staff Peter N. Ellef and contractor William Tomasso (search) of conspiring to steer state contracts from 1997 to 2003. The racketeering and several other charges each carry up to 20 years in prison. Tomasso is accused of giving Ellef more than $1 million worth of gold, cash, trips, meals and vacations. In return, Ellef allegedly helped steer tens...

Connecticut Governor Resigns Over Scandal

Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland will announce his resignation tonight, ending months of speculation and weeks of legislative hearings by the bipartisan House Select Committee. The governor is planning a live television address to the state at 6 p.m

CT Gov. John Rowland to Resign

Conn. enacts transgender hate crime law SUMMARY: Connecticut joined seven other states that protect transgender people in hate crime laws when Republican Gov. John Rowland signed the legislation last Friday. Connecticut joined seven other states that protect transgender people in hate crime laws when Republican Gov. John Rowland signed the legislation last Friday. The state Senate unanimously passed the inclusive hate crimes bill in April, after the House had passed the bill 139-4. Many of the legislators who signed onto the bill, including the co-chair of the joint Senate and House Judiciary Committee (news - web sites), Sen. Andrew J....

Connecticut GOP Backs Investigating Gov. HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Republican state senators have unanimously backed a state House proposal that would convene a bipartisan committee to investigate the corruption scandal surrounding Republican Gov. John G. Rowland. The Republican senators did not ask for the three-term governor to resign. "The governor, like any private citizen accused of wrongdoing, is entitled to due process and a thorough investigation of the facts," Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca said Sunday. Republicans in the state House on Friday proposed that a select committee investigate the scandal. State Senate Democrats as a group have already...

Rowland switches stories Apologizes for misleading claims This is the first in a two-part series about the ethical woes of Gov. John G. Rowland. Coming Sunday: Legislature is likely to rewrite the 1997 gift regulation that allowed Rowland to get help from Gov. John G. Rowland admitted Friday that he misled the public about who paid for thousands of dollars of improvements to his lakeside home in Litchfield. He apologized to "the citizens of Connecticut" and said he intends to complete the last three years of his third four-year term. In a string of revelatory details, the embattled Republican governor...

HARTFORD — Gov. John G. Rowland, 10 days after saying he paid for improvements at his Bantam Lake cottage, admitted Friday to accepting thousands of dollars in free work from a state contractor under federal investigation. He also received freebies from employees and friends. The work ranged from free gutter and drainage repair, a new ceiling, a free water heater and hot tub. Altogether, the work came from a company owned by the Tomasso family, whose firms have caught the eye of federal prosecutors, as well as from PJ Delahunty, a then-deputy commissioner of the state Department of Public Works....

<p>Washington, Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- More Republican governors are proposing tax increases to fill state budget shortfalls of 10 percent or more that have challenged their party's philosophy of keeping taxes low, the Washington Post reported.</p> <p>Governor Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, who cut state taxes 48 times during his first term, decided to call for an increase in cigarette and sales taxes this year after balancing last year's budget by firing workers and reducing child-care subsidies, the paper said. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Connecticut Governor John Rowland are among the Republicans who have proposed tax increases, the Post reported.</p>

(Hartford-AP, Nov. 3, 2002 5:45 PM) _Former President Bill Clinton will be a door prize tomorrow. Everyone who walks through the door at Monday's rally for Democrat Bill Curry will put their name in a hat. The winner gets their picture taken with the former president. Roy Occhiogrosso, Curry's campaign manager, said there was discussion of raffling off a chance to get a picture taken with Clinton as part of a fund-raiser. However, the campaign would have needed a special state permit. Curry, who is trailing Republican Governor John Rowland in public opinion polls, hopes Clinton's visit will energize voters...

Filed at 2:54 p.m. ET HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The campaign manager for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Bill Curry acknowledged that a staff member helped set up a noisy protest that disrupted a tour by the Republican incumbent. Campaign manager Roy Occhiogrosso said he planned to take action against the worker, but would not say whether the person would be fired. ``It shouldn't have happened and it won't happen again. I'm taking care of it internally,'' he said Tuesday. ``It is not the job of any member of this campaign to disrupt any public function.'' Gov. John G. Rowland and the...

The Connecticut legislature has passed a measure that would make the state the first in the nation to create a unique tax bracket for millionaires. Luckily, Governor John Rowland has promised to veto this 1% additional tax. It's a rather transparent attempt by state Democrats to portray Rowland as "favoring the rich" in a re-election year when the state budget is running a near billion-dollar deficit. Unfortunately for these same Democrats, Rowland has proven himself as a supremely confident and able governor, and this cheap tactic should do little to keep him from a third term. But the fact...