Charges Could Be Dismissed For New Canaan Man Facing 16 Counts

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield’s former chief fiscal officer, a New Canaan resident, is applying for a rehabilitation program that could result in the dismissal of numerous felony charges.

Robert A. Mayer, 78, is charged with 16 counts, including third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, evidence tampering and second-degree forgery in connection with an investigation of contamination and corruption involving the Fairfield fill pile and other sites in town.

During a virtual hearing Thursday, Mayer’s attorney, Richard Meehan, discussed Mayer’s program application. Judge Kevin Doyle scheduled Mayer’s next court appearance for July 13.

The accelerated rehabilitation program is available to people with no prior criminal record who are unlikely to re-offend. Attorneys on Thursday did discuss an incident involving Mayer in 1980 in California, but Meehan said that case was rejected for prosecution.

If the program is granted, Mayer would be placed on an informal probation for up to two years, with additional conditions possible, such as community service. At the end of that period, if Mayer complies with the rules of the program, his case would be dismissed.

The town of Fairfield is considered a victim in the case and intends to oppose Mayer’s application when Doyle considers it in July.

“The town definitely wishes to be heard,” town attorney James Baldwin said in a phone interview after Thursday’s hearing.

Mayer is accused of entering a town building in the early morning hours of Jan. 16, 2020 — the day after he was terminated — and stealing several file folders, police said at the time.

Among the stolen documents were town records, some of which pertained to Julian Development, the contractor hired to manage the fill pile, and to the Penfield Pavilion project, according to court documents. Mayer is also accused as early as Aug. 16, 2019, of tampering with evidence, including weight tickets and vouchers, and of forging a town voucher, court records said.

Mayer was originally charged with only three counts, but court documents filed in April showed 13 counts had since been added.

If Mayer is not granted the rehabilitation program, Meehan will move to dismiss charges that he considers to be duplicitous, he said.

“It’s piling on,” Meehan said.

Mayer is one of seven people — most of whom are former town employees — to be charged in connection with the file pile scandal.

The town's recent fill pile problems began in 2013, when Fairfield hired Julian Development to operate the site and reduce it by 40,000 cubic yards. Instead, the pile tripled in size over three years, and days before the agreement with Julian was set to end, contaminants were discovered on the property.

Police opened an investigation into activity at the pile in 2017. The defendants are accused, among other things, of conspiring to run an illegal dump for contaminated material, allowing fraudulent billing and illegally disposing of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls.

Cleanup at the pile and several other sites in town contaminated by the fill is expected to take years and cost millions of dollars, in addition to the $2.1 million the town has already spent.