BRIDGEPORT, CT — Former Connecticut deputy budget director Kosta Diamantis was sentenced Wednesday, Sept. 30, to seven years in federal prison, though he was not in the courtroom to hear it. U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill imposed the 84-month term in absentia in Bridgeport, followed by three years of supervised release, according to NBC Connecticut.
Later that day, Attorney General William Tong went to court to revoke Diamantis' state pension.
A jury found Diamantis guilty on Oct. 22, 2025, the attorney general's office said, on 21 counts that included bribery, extortion, conspiracy and lying to investigators. He oversaw state school construction grants, and contractors told jurors at trial that he demanded cash from them in return for school projects, WFSB reported.
Underhill also ordered forfeiture of Diamantis' Farmington home, which carries $450,000 in mortgage and home-equity debt, but held off enforcing it until Friday, Oct. 2, so his family could collect belongings, the Connecticut Mirror reported.
Diamantis Fled to Greece Before Sentencing
Diamantis did not appear for his first sentencing date, Sept. 17; his lawyer, Norm Pattis, said his client was in Greece. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday the government had arranged for Diamantis to fly back for the hearing, and that he bought a plane ticket but never showed up at the airport, NBC Connecticut reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan N. Francis stressed that the absence was Diamantis' own choice. "He could have come back yesterday," Francis said, according to the Mirror. "All he had to do is show up."
Sentencing guidelines called for 121 to 151 months, the range prosecutors sought. Underhill went below it, citing Diamantis' age, 70. "As bad as his crimes were, he does not deserve to be in prison for the rest of his life," the judge said, the Mirror reported.
Pattis read a statement in which Diamantis maintained his innocence and called the case a political effort to silence him. Underhill rejected that. "Nobody conspired to have him commit these crimes," he said. The judge called the evidence that Diamantis demanded and took bribes overwhelming and said the jury did not believe his testimony that the cash was a legitimate fee.
Underhill also revoked Diamantis' bond, both in this case and in a pending Medicare fraud case, WFSB reported. The amount Diamantis must repay Hartford, New Britain, Tolland and the state will be set in later proceedings.
A State Judge Will Decide on Diamantis' Pension
Under a 2008 state law, the attorney general must seek to reduce or revoke the pension of a state or municipal official convicted of a crime tied to that office. A judge makes the decision after weighing the severity of the crime, the money lost, the degree of public trust the official held and other factors.
"Because of his arrogant and brazen misconduct, the State of Connecticut is now asking the court to find that he forfeited his right to receive a taxpayer-funded pension," Tong said in a statement.
After the missed Sept. 17 hearing, State Comptroller Sean Scanlon announced he was cutting off Diamantis' pension payments. Diamantis then sued Scanlon and Tong, saying they had unlawfully cut off more than $70,000 a year in benefits, the Mirror reported. That suit is separate from Tong's new case.
The attorney general's office has brought 32 cases under the law, including this one. Of the 30 it has litigated, 12 ended with a full revocation, 10 with a partial reduction and eight with no change.