Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, Connecticut’s former deputy budget director, fled the country instead of accepting his sentencing in a federal corruption case.
But that hasn’t stopped Diamantis from asking the same federal court system to reconsider and overturn the conviction that resulted in a seven-year prison sentence imposed by a judge last month in his absence.
Norm Pattis, Diamantis’ defense attorney, filed an appeal this week seeking to challenge his client’s conviction on bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges and the lengthy prison sentence that was handed down after Diamantis left for Greece. Details of that appeal have not yet been made public by the court.
It’s not immediately clear on what grounds Diamantis intends to challenge his conviction, or whether the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals will even consider the challenge.
After Diamantis fled the country, Pattis noted in federal court records that his fugitive status could complicate any appeal he might seek to file.
Under what is known as the Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine, federal judges have the discretion to dismiss appeals in cases where defendants have ignored court orders and purposefully fled U.S. jurisdiction.
Pattis was not immediately available Thursday morning to comment on the federal appeal.
Diamantis was convicted on October 22 of soliciting and accepting bribes from a pair of school construction contractors. The jury delivered its verdict after a nine-day trial, during which federal prosecutors presented a mountain of evidence that showed Diamantis negotiated payments from Acranom Masonry and a $45-per-hour job for his daughter with Construction Advocacy Professionals.
Several witnesses told the jury that Diamantis used his influence at the state’s school building office to help those companies win lucrative construction contracts on several projects in Tolland, Hartford and New Britain.
This is not the first time that Diamantis has sought to utilize the state and federal court systems while he remains a fugitive from justice.
Diamantis has also sued Connecticut officials in recent weeks in an attempt to continue receiving his state pension benefits, which were stopped by state officials following his conviction.
Diamantis claimed in federal court that state Comptroller Sean Scanlon, as well as Attorney General William Tong, improperly cut off the monthly payments for his pension, which is valued at roughly $75,000 per year.
In the meantime, Diamantis has continued to participate in dozens of interviews with local television, radio and print news reporters.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
