Jury selection begins in Bradley and Martinez campaign fraud trial

BRIDGEPORT — Jury selection began Tuesday morning in the trial of state Sen. Dennis Bradley and former city Board of Education member Jessica Martinez, who were both accused last year of campaign finance fraud.

The trial could begin as soon as Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden denied Martinez’s request to sever her case from Bradley’s case. She had contended that Bradley “maneuvered her in an effort to cover up his own misconduct.”

Last year, Bradley and Martinez were indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. In addition, Martinez was indicted for making false statements to the FBI and lying to the grand jury.

If convicted they could each face more than 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charges. In addition, Martinez could face another 10 years in prison on the lying charges.

The government alleges in the indictment that Bradley and Martinez, who served as the campaign treasurer for his 2018 campaign for state senate, conspired “to defraud the Connecticut State Election Enforcement Commission, the Citizens’

Election Fund and the State of Connecticut by making misrepresentations concerning Bradley’s compliance with state election law and the Citizens’ Election Program’s statutory restrictions and requirements in order to fraudulently obtain or attempt to obtain $179,850 in campaign grants.”

The criminal charges are related to an event held at Dolphin’s Cove on March 15, 2018. Federal prosecutors claim that the event at Dolphin’s Cove was a campaign event and that it should have been disclosed as such to the State Elections Enforcement Commission, as the disclosure would have made the campaign ineligible for CEP funding.

The defense claims the party was a celebratory event for Bradley’s law firm.

Federal prosecutors have stated in court documents that they intend to present 33 witnesses. Included among those witnesses is Tina Manus, a volunteer for the 2018 Bradley senate campaign who earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud in the case.

Prosecutors have also stated in court documents they will be presenting numerous texts between Bradley, Martinez and others showing that the event was held to collect money for Bradley’s senate campaign.