Louis DeLuca (born August 17, 1933) is a retired businessman and a Republican Party politician in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He served as the

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

for the 32nd District of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

until November 30, 2007.

Political career

DeLuca was born in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Everett was the last city in the Un ...

. He was elected to the senate in 1990, representing Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury, Oxford, Roxbury, Seymour, Southbury, Thomaston, Watertown and Woodbury. He served as Senate Minority Leader in the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

from 2002 to 2007. He assisted in the successful effort to ban

MTBE Methyl ''tertiary''-butyl ether (MTBE), also known as methyl tert-butyl ether and ''tert''-butyl methyl ether, is an organic compound with a structural formula (CH3)3COCH3. MTBE is a volatile, flammable, and colorless liquid that is sparingly sol ...

from Connecticut's gasoline supplies. For his efforts, he received environmental awards from the Housatonic Valley Association and the Pomperaug Watershed Coalition. He has announced his opposition to the proposal of Governor

Jodi Rell Mary Carolyn "Jodi" Rell (née Reavis; born June 16, 1946) is an American former Republican politician and the 87th governor of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. Rell also served as the state's 105th lieutenant governor of Connecticut. Rell was C ...

to increase the state income tax to pay for added education funding.

Scandal

On June 1, 2007 DeLuca was arrested upon allegations that he asked

James Galante James Galante (born January 5, 1953) is an American convicted felony, felon and associate of the Genovese crime family, owner of the defunct Danbury Trashers minor-league hockey team and a defunct racecar team fielding cars for Ted Christopher, a ...

, a businessman linked to a garbage corruption scandal, to intervene in a domestic abuse problem of a family member. James Galante is reported to have paid

Matthew Ianniello Matthew Joseph "Matty the Horse" Ianniello (June 18, 1920 – August 15, 2012) was a New York mobster with the Genovese crime family, of which he was once the acting boss. During the 1960s and 1970s, Ianniello controlled the lucrative sex indus ...

of the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

$120,000 a year in protection money for his Connecticut and Westchester Country trash-hauling routes

On June 4, 2007 Senator DeLuca pleaded guilty to a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

threatening charge, received a suspended sentence, and was ordered to pay a fine. On June 12, 2007, DeLuca announced he would step down as leader of the Senate Republicans and was replaced by 28th District Senator John McKinney, son of late Congressman Stewart McKinney. A special senate committee was convened to determine if DeLuca should be officially sanctioned. One Republican state senator,

David Cappiello David J. Cappiello (born August 15, 1968) is a businessman and former State Senator representing Connecticut’s 24th Senate District, which includes the communities of Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman, and part of Bethel. In the Senate, he serve ...

, called on DeLuca to resign his seat. On August 4, 2007, the husband of DeLuca's granddaughter, Mark Colella, was interviewed by the

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

. While he denied abusing DeLuca's granddaughter, he admitted to a long record of criminal charges and said of DeLuca, "I'd like to smack his teeth down his throat," On October 15, 2007, DeLuca testified in front of the committee investigating him, acknowledging under oath that he asked Galante to threaten his grandson-in-law and that he also knowingly had lied to

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

officers when they questioned him during their investigation. He also told the committee that he reported to

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

Chief of Police

Neil O'Leary Neil Michael O'Leary (born October 10, 1958) is an American politician and retired police chief currently serving as the 46th mayor of the City of Waterbury, Connecticut. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Chief of police In 1980, O'Leary ...

of his granddaughter's alleged abuse but the chief refused to investigate the claim. O'Leary, in response, said that he is willing to testify under oath in front of the committee to give his side of the story. On November 13, 2007, DeLuca announced his resignation from the Senate, effective November 30, 2007. Watertown councilman Rob Kane, a Republican, was elected in a January 15, 2008 special election to serve out the balance of DeLuca's term.

References

*
Senate Republicans - Senator Louis DeLuca
ct.gov. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20060424080736/http://www.senaterepublicans.ct.gov/senainfo/DeLuca.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Deluca, Louis Living people 1933 births Republican Party Connecticut state senators Politicians from Everett, Massachusetts People from Woodbury, Connecticut 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Connecticut politicians convicted of crimes

Political career

Scandal

See also

References

External links