Ex-East Haven School Chair Faces Prison For Mail, Wire Fraud

EAST HAVEN, CT — Former East Haven Board of Education Chairman John Finkle pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud related to a scheme to defraud an Illinois-based company for which he worked of millions of dollars, federal authorities announced.

Finkle, who at one point was a mayoral candidate in East Haven and is still a member of the Board of Education, was released on $500,000 bond. Sentencing was scheduled for October 8, at which time Finkle faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Finkle was employed by an Illinois-based supplier of electronic components (“Company A”). Between approximately February 2015 and December 2018, Finkle conspired with Kenneth Pedroli to defraud Company A through a scheme involving purchases of electronic components that Pedroli made from Company A for a business he operated in Islandia, New York, federal officials said.

As part of the scheme, Finkle instructed Pedroli to place his orders and list prices at a fraction of Company A’s published prices, officials said. After Pedroli’s orders were submitted to Company A at the discounted prices, the products were shipped from Company A to Pedroli, officials said. Finkle instructed Pedroli to pay only a portion of the invoiced price and to make the payments directly to Finkle, which Pedroli did, federal authorities say.

After Finkle deposited the payments into his personal checking account, and provided a portion of the funds to another Company A employee who manipulated the accounting records of Company A to make it appear that Pedroli had paid Company A for the products he received, officials say.

The government contends that Company A was defrauded of more than $3 million through this scheme. Pedroli, of Stony Brook, New York, pleaded guilty to the same offense on April 29 and awaits sentencing.