Bridgeport Senator Charged With Violating Clean Election Laws, Pleads Not Guilty

State Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport, entered not guilty pleas Tuesday to federal wire fraud crimes and charges that he entered into a conspiracy to defraud Connecticut’s clean election fund.

According to a 24-page indictment, Bradley and a co-defendant — Jessica Martinez, his former campaign treasurer and Bridgeport Board of Education member — are accused of scheming to obtain $179,850 in public campaign finance grants during his 2018 campaign for his state senate seat.

Bradley is accused of misrepresenting compliance with state clean election laws and restrictions in order to qualify for an $84,140 primary campaign grant and attempting to qualify for an additional $95,710 general election grant.

The charges stem from a March 15, 2018, campaign kick-off event held at Bridgeport restaurant Dolphin’s Cove. According to the indictment, Bradley skirted clean election reporting requirements by claiming the campaign event was related to his law firm Bradley, Denkovich & Karayiannis. Bradley used the event to announce his candidacy, but his campaign financial disclosures to election regulators omitted the event and its costs.

Read more: https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2021/05/25/bridgeport-senator-charged-with-violating-clean-election-laws-pleads-not-guilty/