Three convicted former CMEEC officials to report to prison by Dec. 4

Three former utility cooperative officials convicted on theft charges in connection with lavish trips to the Kentucky Derby and a West Virginia golf resort have been ordered to report for their federal prison sentences on or before noon on Dec. 4.Former Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative CEO Drew Rankin, former Norwich Public Utilities General Manager John Bilda and former CMEEC and Norwich utility commission chairman James Sullivan were denied appeals of their prison sentences in a Sept. 6 ruling by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.The three were convicted by a jury in December 2021 in U.S. District Court in New Haven on one charge each of theft from a program that receives federal funds for their roles in planning trips in 2015 to the Kentucky Derby and The Greenbrier golf resort in West Virginia.CMEEC hosted the 2015 trip to the Kentucky Derby for dozens of CMEEC top staff, board members, family members, friends, business vendors and public officials and placed deposits that year for an even larger group for 2016. Four CMEEC officials visited The Greenbrier golf resort in August 2015 and a larger group in October.In May 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, who presided over the criminal trial, sentenced Rankin to 12 months in prison and three years' probation and ordered him to pay CMEEC $374,400. Bilda and Sullivan were sentenced to serve six months in prison and each ordered to pay $187,400 in restitution. Meyer said he considered Rankin to be the chief orchestrator of the planned trips when imposing the stiffer sentence.On Wednesday, Meyer posted an order on the case docket that the three men voluntarily surrender either to the federal Bureau of Prisons designated prison facility or to U.S. Marshals in the New Haven district court by noon on Dec. 4 to begin serving their sentences.The order stated that the next five weeks will allow the Bureau of Prisons "to designate facilities for the defendants to serve their sentences."The three men, however, also have a choice to begin serving their sentences prior to Dec. 4. They were instructed to have their attorneys alert the court so the U.S. Marshals office or the Bureau of Prisons will be notified that they wish to start serving early.Wednesday's order did not state any deadline for paying the ordered restitution amounts to CMEEC.c.bessette@theday.com