Waterbury-native and former State Representative Victor Cuevas was sentenced to serve 8 months in federal prison for defrauding a former New Haven Probate Judge candidate back in 2017.
Cuevas pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud last October.
Cuevas, 58, was a co-operator of Yellow Dog Strategies (YDS), a political consulting firm. The firm was hired by the campaign of Americo R. Carchia in 2017 and tasked with gathering signatures to get the candidate on the ballot for the primary.
Cuevas was accused of conspiring with others to submit falsified petitions, causing “signatures of registered voters to be forged on petitions and caused the signature of a purported Circulator to be forged on a Statement of Authenticity,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Additionally, Cuevas forged the signature of a fictional Circulator on a Statement of Authenticity.
When the fraud was discovered, Carchia was forced to drop out of the race. Upon learning of the impending investigation by the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC), Cuevas conspired with others to hide evidence of the scheme, including “pressuring the fictitious Circulator, whose signature had been forged, to sign a false affidavit.”
YDS was paid $5,750 for the fraudulent work, which the U.S. Attorney says was never completed. As part of his sentence, Cuevas will have to pay that money back in restitution.
At the time YDS was hired by the campaign, Victor Cuevas was also on probation after being found guilty on federal charges of “conspiring with others to commit bank fraud in connection with his home mortgage loan applications” in 2016.
Cuevas is currently out on a $100,000 bond and will have to submit himself to custody on September 5th. Following his release, Cuevas will undergo three years of supervised release.
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