Hartford, Conn. (WTIC Radio)-Former Waterbury State Representative Victor Cuevas pleaded guilty today to defraud a New Haven Probate Judge candidate in 2017.
Cuevas entered his plea before Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut and David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to court documents, Cuevas was hired as a political consultant to collect one thousand petition signatures from registered Democrats for a probate judge primary candidate.
Officials say Cuevas supervised a team to collect the signatures. But instead he conspired with others submitting falsified petition forms. The candidate, unaware the forgeries, submitted those petitions to be counted. Once the New Haven Democratic Registrar of Voters detected the forged signatures, the candidate withdrew from the primary.
At the time of the offense, Cuevas was on federal probation. He was sentenced, in 2016, to a year of probation and a $1,000 fine for conspiring with others to commit bank fraud on home mortgage applications.
In court today, Cuevas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. That carries a maximum five year prison term. He was released on $100,000 bond pending sentencing, set for January 17, 2023.