Ex-lawyer for GOP state senators misses court

Michael Cronin also faces arraignment on charges of misappropriation of funds

HARTFORD — The former trusted lawyer for Connecticut’s Republican state senators was a noshow Thursday morning for a Superior Court civil hearing where he was required to disclose financial assets.

During a brief proceeding in which Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher expressed puzzlement why neither Michael J. Cronin nor his attorney attended, Moukawsher set a July 8 deadline for the defendant to avoid a default ruling, which would make it easier for the Senate caucus to seek repayment of an estimated $84,000 allegedly stolen between 2012 and 2018.

Moukawsher also ordered that Cronin, 56, of West Hartford, to pay legal fees to the local law firm of Murtha Cullina.

But that could be the least of Cronin’s legal troubles, as he is scheduled for arraignment

Friday morning in nearby criminal court for allegedly taking the campaign money he was supposed to invest in promoting candidates and incumbents.

The Class B felony he faces for misappropriating as much as $240,000 includes penalties of 40 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

On Feb. 1, the court granted the Republicans’ motion to force the disclosure of Cronin’s assets. “He assured us it was forthcoming,” said Joseph D. Szerejko, the GOP attorney.

“It was a clear, unambiguous order,” Moukawsher said. “And the defendant has not complied. Certainly there was clear order. It’s easy to understand. Here we are on this occasion and not even counsel showed up.”

Cronin’s attorney, Thomas E. Stevens of Cheshire, did not immediately return a call for comment on Thursday.

State Sen. Len Fasano, the GOP senate leader, said Cronin is likely in a tough spot. “From a lawyer’s perspective I understand why Mike might not show up for a hearing for which he has no defense,” Fasano said in a late-afternoon interview Thursday. “I would gather there would be some manner of restitution in the criminal case carried to the civil case.”

“Certainly there was clear order. It’s easy to understand. Here we are on this occasion and not even counsel showed up.”

Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher

Cronin

Emilie Munson / Hearst Connecticut Media Mike Cronin, left, seen in a file photo with state Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, was a no-show in Superior Court Thursday in a hearing scheduled for him to disclose personal assets in an effort by GOP senators to retrieve $84,000 Cronin allegedly stole from their PAC between 2012 and 2018.