Three former municipal utility cooperative officials convicted on federal theft charges in connection with use of cooperative funds for trips to the Kentucky Derby have filed motions asking a judge to reverse the verdict and acquit them or order a new trial.

Attorneys for former Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative CEO Drew Rankin, former Norwich Public Utilities General Manager John Bilda and former Norwich utility commission and CMEEC board chairman James Sullivan filed joint motions in New Haven federal court last week seeking to reverse the convictions.

The three were convicted Dec. 10 following a monthlong trial in U.S. District Court in New Haven of one count of theft from a program receiving federal funds for the 2015 trips to the Kentucky Derby and The Greenbrier golf resort in West Virginia. CMEEC hosted the luxury trips, called strategic retreats, for dozens of board members, top staff, family members and invited guests.

The three were found not guilty on the one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of theft in connection with the 2014 Derby trip. Two other defendants, former Groton Utilities commissioner and former CMEEC board member Edward DeMuzzio and former CMEEC CFO Edward Pryor were acquitted on all charges: one count each of conspiracy and two counts each of theft.

Rankin, Sullivan and Bilda face a maximum sentence of 10 years on the theft conviction, and the judge could order restitution or levy fines.

Attorneys for Rankin, Sullivan and Bilda argued in two lengthy motions first that the guilty verdict be overturned based on lack of evidence to sustain the conviction. If that is not successful, the attorneys filed a second motion asking for a new trial, saying the government secured a conviction “on a theory that was not charged in the indictment.”

According to the federal court docket schedule, U.S. attorneys have until March 21 to file a response to the defendants’ motions, and the defendants’ attorneys must file replies to the government’s response by April 4. An in-person court hearing for oral arguments on the motions is scheduled for April 26.

In the first motion, attorneys Craig A. Raabe for Rankin, Daniel S. Noble for Sullivan and Thomas J. Murphy for Bilda argued that the conviction on the one count of theft should be reversed and the defendants should be acquitted based on four points.

They argued that federal prosecutors failed to provide evidence that CMEEC received more than $10,000 in federal funding in 2015, failed to prove the defendants had “criminal intent,” and failed to show the defendants misappropriated CMEEC property valued at $5,000 or more.

The fourth point claimed the defendants were denied due process because they had “no fair warning” that behavior the attorneys argued was allowed under state statutes “would subject them to the vague, overbroad grasp of” federal law.

The attorneys argued that evidence presented at the November trial showed the trips to the Kentucky Derby and The Greenbrier were “approved legitimate corporate expenses in CMEEC’s budgets,” were known to the board members — “beyond those who stood trial” — who approved the budgets and attended the trips.

If the court denies the acquittal, the attorneys asked in the second motion for a new trial. They argued that the conviction was secured on “a theory” that was not included in the indictment. They argued that prosecutors erroneously claimed that the money spent on the trips belonged to “member towns.” The attorneys argued that CMEEC controlled the revenues used for the trips, and that CMEEC itself is not owned by municipalities, but by six member public utilities. They further argued that “irrelevant” evidence involving federal grants to the municipalities was submitted at the trial to show theft from a program receiving federal funds.

“The government’s improper reliance on this ‘Member Town’ ownership theory caused substantial prejudice to the defendants that undermined their right to a fair trial,” the attorneys wrote in the motion.

The money used for the trips was taken from CMEEC’s “margin fund,” which contained revenues intended to be returned to the municipal utilities to be used for electric rate stabilization. Money for the so-called board retreats was the only expense taken from the margin fund by CMEEC.

c.bessette@theday.com