United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

JURY FINDS COMPUTER EXECUTIVE INVOLVED IN PUBLIC CORRUPTION SCHEME GUILTY ON NINE COUNTS

Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal jury in Bridgeport has found JEANETTE FOXWORTH, age 52, of 44 Lakewood Place, New Orleans, Louisiana, guilty on all counts of a nine-count Indictment arising from a public corruption investigation into the activities of former Connecticut State Senator Ernest E. Newton II. FOXWORTH is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Applicable Computer Engineering Technology, doing business as Acetech, Inc., also known as Application Engineering Technology, LLC. The Indictment charged FOXWORTH with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false statements to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The jury returned its verdict today after deliberating for less than four hours.

“We are pleased with the jury’s verdict,” U.S. Attorney O’Connor stated. “This Office and our law enforcement partners, notably the FBI and IRS, are committed to rooting out public corruption wherever it exists by investigating and prosecuting public officials and those who engage in corrupt relationships with them.”

According to the Indictment, between September 2003 and approximately February 2005, FOXWORTH engaged in a scheme with Newton and another individual to enrich herself and her business in connection with the effort of a nonprofit agency to obtain approximately $3 million in financial assistance from the State of Connecticut, and in connection with the award of contracts by the City of Bridgeport, and other contracts throughout the state.

According to the evidence presented by the Government during the trial, between September 2003 and January 2004, FOXWORTH corruptly paid Newton $3,000 to assist her in securing contracts for her and her business within the State of Connecticut, to give FOXWORTH information useful to her business, and to vouch for her as a minority contractor providing computer consulting services. The Government presented witnesses detailing Newton’s attempts to obtain work for FOXWORTH, including a former Bridgeport School Superintendent who testified that on July 2, 2004, Newton and FOXWORTH met with the former Superintendent and another official at which time Newton offered to secure funding for the Bridgeport schools if the school official would agree to set aside a contract for FOXWORTH and her company. Another elected official, a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, also testified that Newton made a similar proposal to the head of a nonprofit organization seeking state bonding authority to finance the building of a shopping center and pharmacy for the East End of Bridgeport. According to the witness, Newton represented that he could secure the state funding if the nonprofit organization would agree to set aside a $100,000 contract for FOXWORTH and her company.

Evidence also included several court-authorized wiretap recordings between FOXWORTH and Newton in which they discussed their scheme and Newton’s repeated attempts to secure contracts for FOXWORTH.

The jury found FOXWORTH guilty of one count of participating in a wire fraud conspiracy to defraud the citizens of the State of Connecticut of the honest services of Senator Newton, and to obtain property by means of fraud. The jury also found FOXWORTH guilty of five counts of wire fraud. Finally, the jury found FOXWORTH guilty of three counts of knowingly and willfully providing false and misleading information to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation during an interview on January 31, 2005, when FOXWORTH was not truthful about her payments to Newton and her receipt of campaign funds from him.

FOXWORTH is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Alan H. Nevas on July 26, 2007, at which time FOXWORTH faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the conspiracy count, a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the wire fraud counts, and a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the three charges of making a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer.

On September 20, 2005, Newton pleaded guilty to one count of accepting a bribe in relation to a federal program, one count of mail fraud relating to his misuse of campaign funds and one count of tax evasion. On February 2, 2006, Judge Nevas sentenced Newton to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney Alex V. Hernandez.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov