Ex-health district chief pleads not guilty on tampering charges
Former Pomperaug district health director Neal Lustig pleaded not guilty in state Superior Court in Waterbury on Thursday to evidence tampering and other charges tied to an investigation into the health district’s finances, according to court records.
Lustig, 70, of Madison and the ex-director of the now-defunct Pomperaug Health District for 33 years, was arrested Sept. 30 by State Police on a tampering with physical evidence felony charge and a misdemeanor charge of computer crime in the fifth degree, according to court records.
His attorney declined to comment Friday morning but last week called the charges “meritless and based on a deep misunderstanding of the relevant facts.”
Lustig is accused of using his company credentials after he was let go from the health department to request that data files be deleted from a back-up system, according to an arrest warrant obtained Monday by Hearst Connecticut Media. The current health director told police that this data was “vital” to their investigation into anomalies related to a pension fund and payroll, as well as allegations against Lustig, the warrant states.
He was suspended last June from the now defunct health district, which served Southbury, Oxford and Woodbury, after a complaint was filed against him. An investigation into the complaint, which was separate from the latest probe into the department’s finances, found the health district had “deep-rooted and longstanding issues” that indicated a “need for leadership change.”
Lustig left the district following contract negotiations, and earlier this year sued several entities, including the towns of Southbury, Oxford and Woodbury, claiming he was discriminated against. Pomperaug has disbanded and its member towns have become part of the newly formed Housatonic Valley Health District.
“My client respects the Connecticut criminal justice system and looks forward to that process reaching its conclusion,” said Anthony Minchella, attorney for the Housatonic Valley Health District, on Wednesday.
Lustig’s next court date is at 10 a.m. Jan. 19.