Attorneys are set to deliver opening arguments on Monday in the federal criminal trial of Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, a former state deputy budget director who is accused of using his position overseeing Connecticut’s school building program to solicit tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from construction contractors.
The trial, which is expected continue through much of October, is the culmination of a nearly four-year investigation into Diamantis, a former Democratic lawmaker who climbed to the highest levels of the state government before he became the target of the federal criminal probe in late 2021.
The 16 jurors and alternates, who were chosen Friday, are expected to hear from a host of witnesses involved in Connecticut’s construction industry, as well as several current and former government officials.
As the jurors learned last week, they may also hear testimony from Connecticut’s sitting Democratic governor, Ned Lamont.
During his first term, Lamont promoted Diamantis to the position of deputy director of the state’s Office of Policy and Management.
But Lamont later fired Diamantis from that job in October 2021, after investigators subpoenaed the state for a long list of records related to Diamantis and several public building projects he oversaw.
Federal prosecutors officially charged Diamantis last year with 22 federal counts of bribery, extortion, conspiracy and lying to federal investigators, and they alleged that he set up a pay-to-play scheme within Connecticut’s school construction office.
The indictment filed in the case alleged that several construction officials provided cash and checks, as well as a job and tuition money for Diamantis’ daughters, in return for him steering lucrative contracts to their companies.
As the investigation advanced in recent years, Diamantis repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and he insisted that he saved state and local taxpayers millions of dollars while overseeing the school construction program for more than six years.
Diamantis’ attorney, Norm Pattis, said last week that his client also intends to take the witness stand during trial to testify in his own defense.
If he does, that testimony could open Diamantis up to cross examination from federal prosecutors, who have spent years sweeping up evidence from banks, the state government, school construction companies, local school officials and Diamantis’ own cell phone.
In court records, the U.S. Attorney’s office has cited numerous text messages in which Diamantis allegedly demanded money from contractors and threatened to boot them from the construction projects if they didn’t pay up.
“Bottom line, have him give you 40 for Monday or he is out,” Diamantis wrote in one such message.
Three construction officials who pleaded guilty to bribing Diamantis last year are also expected take the witness stand during the early days of the trial.
Prosecutors are expected to portray Diamantis as a powerful, and vindictive, state official who had unfettered control over billions of dollars in state grants that were awarded to school projects all over the state.
And they will attempt to prove that he used his authority to manipulate local officials and other construction firms into hiring the companies that were secretly paying him and his daughter.
Prosecutors intend to put several local municipal officials on the stand who will testify that Diamantis pressured and coerced them into hiring his preferred contractors.
It’s unclear what Diamantis’ strategy will be during the trial, but Pattis, Diamantis’ attorney, announced on the eve of the trial that he intended to place Lamont on the witness stand as part of that defense.
This story was originally published by The Connecticut Mirror Oct. 6, 2025
