Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys have put forward sharply contrasting sentencing proposals for Konstantinos "Kosta" Diamantis, the former head of Connecticut's school construction program, ahead of his formal sentencing scheduled for Thursday. Following his conviction on federal corruption charges, prosecutors have urged the court to impose a lengthy prison term, while Diamantis is asking to serve no time behind bars.
In a sentencing memorandum submitted to the court, federal prosecutors recommended that the disgraced former official serve between 121 and 151 months of imprisonment, which translates to a sentence of up to 12 years and seven months. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David E. Novick and Jonathan N. Francis characterized Diamantis as a calculating figure who engaged in extensive greed and corruption, fundamentally betraying the public trust placed in him by the state.
Diamantis, 70, who once served as a state legislator and oversaw major public school construction spending, is seeking an alternative disposition. Through his defense attorney, Norm Pattis, Diamantis has petitioned U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill to grant him home detention coupled with a maximum period of probation rather than federal incarceration.
The upcoming sentencing at the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport follows a trial last October in which a federal jury found Diamantis guilty of 21 counts, including bribery, extortion, conspiracy, and making false statements to federal investigators. Diamantis, who remains free on a $500,000 bond, formally resigned from the Connecticut state bar in February after his conviction.
In the defense motion, Pattis argued that Diamantis recognizes the weight of his conviction and does not seek to minimize the jury’s findings or his breach of public duty. However, the defense maintained that sending a 70-year-old to prison provides limited additional value given the severe personal, professional, and financial consequences he has already experienced.
The defense attorney emphasized a combination of mitigating factors in his request for home confinement, citing Diamantis's advanced age, his lack of physical dangerousness, the complete loss of the official position that enabled his actions, his professional downfall, and his state of financial ruin. Pattis also noted that Diamantis faces diminished future earning capacity and difficult family circumstances.
Under the defense proposal, Diamantis would be subjected to strict conditions, including a permanent bar against seeking or holding future government employment or public contracting roles. The defense also offered full financial disclosures, continuous monitoring, payment of restitution when determined appropriate, and an explicit prohibition against profiting from his criminal conduct.
The charges against Diamantis stemmed from corrupt activities spanning between 2018 and 2021, during which he leveraged his regulatory authority over multimillion-dollar school building projects in communities such as Hartford and Tolland. During the nine-day trial, prosecutors presented evidence detailing how Diamantis pressured contractors for illicit cash payments and personal favors.
A central piece of evidence involved testimony from Antonietta Roy, the owner of Construction Advocacy Professionals. Roy testified that she feared losing out on lucrative school projects, leading her to hire Diamantis's daughter for an administrative position at an inflated wage of $45 per hour. Roy also stated that she provided Diamantis with $4,500 in checks and cash payments to protect her firm's standing.
Further trial testimony came from John Duffy, Diamantis's former brother-in-law and the vice president of Acranom Masonry in Middlefield. Duffy told the jury that the company’s winning contract bid on a municipal project had been deliberately structured to include a hidden $70,000 payoff intended directly for Diamantis.
During his own testimony at trial, Diamantis maintained that his dealings were legitimate, claiming he was merely acting as an independent legal consultant and adviser to the masonry firm and the construction management company during his personal time. The jury rejected this explanation, siding with the testimony of company executives who had previously entered guilty pleas regarding their involvement in the kickback schemes.
In their sentencing filing, federal prosecutors emphasized that Diamantis's actions were not an isolated mistake or a temporary lapse in judgment, but rather a persistent pattern of exploitation carried out over several years. They pointed out that the structure of the state school construction funding program left economically disadvantaged and needy school districts particularly vulnerable to Diamantis's coercive demands.
Prosecutors highlighted the tangible harm inflicted upon local school districts, noting that contractors were selected based on their willingness to pay bribes rather than their technical qualifications or the quality of their work. For instance, prosecutors documented that Diamantis pressured Hartford officials into awarding the fourth phase of the Weaver High School project to Acranom Masonry, despite the firm's prior masonry work on the facility being so substandard that extensive portions had to be torn down and redone.
As Judge Underhill prepares to hand down the sentence on Thursday, Diamantis continues to face further legal peril. A second federal trial is scheduled for early next year involving separate public corruption charges. In that case, federal prosecutors allege that while working in the state Office of Policy and Management, Diamantis accepted $100,000 in payments to quash an ongoing state healthcare fraud audit into a Bristol eye care practice.
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