Former top Connecticut prosecutor battled mob

Hartford — Austin J. McGuigan, Connecticut’s top state prosecutor in the late 1970s and 1980s, who fought government corruption and organized crime and later became a prominent defense lawyer, has died. He was 77.

McGuigan died Tuesday after living with Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease, his son, attorney A. Ryan McGuigan, said Wednesday.

“He was a champion of the poor and underprivileged and made enemies of those entitled and corrupt,” his son said. “He was a titan, and we will never see his likes again.”

McGuigan served as chief state’s attorney from 1978 to 1985. During his tenure, nearly 30 New Britain officials were convicted in a corruption investigation, the state transportation commissioner resigned and pleaded guilty in a corruption probe, and a number of people were arrested in an investigation of game fixing at jai alai frontons.

He also investigated organized crime’s influence on jai alai operations in the state, resulting in allegations against Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger and others that were later dismissed by a judge, The Hartford Courant reported.

McGuigan was forced to leave office in 1985 when state officials declined to approve his reappointment amid acrimony between McGuigan’s office and state police over how state police handled investigations. He went on to become a prominent defense lawyer and co-founder of the Hartford firm Rome McGuigan.

“Austin was one of the most colorful prosecutors the state of Connecticut has ever known,” said Hugh Keefe, a noted New Haven defense attorney and longtime McGuigan friend. “He was probably the most effective in solving crime, specifically white collar crime. He had nerve.”

U.S. Rep. John Larson, a Democrat from East Hartford, called McGuigan “a giant who fought corruption and pushed for what was right.”

McGuigan grew up in Medford, Mass., near Boston, attended Merrimack College and earned his law degree from Boston University.