This year saw its fair share of Connecticut-based attorneys in trouble and/or behaving badly. The crimes or alleged crimes ran the gamut from having sex with a minor to stealing from clients and cursing in the courtroom.

The Connecticut Law Tribune looks back at the top five cases of attorneys who either ended up on the wrong side of the law or were disciplined for their behavior. Two of the five attorneys were former politicians who were widely known and held prominent positions in their hometowns.

The attorneys are listed alphabetically:

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Stephen Gionfriddo:

For the second time in 12 years, paralegal and former attorney Stephen Gionfriddo found himself on the wrong side of the law.

The former Middletown mayor, who was convicted of fraud in 2006, was most recently charged with stealing more than $900,000 from LeFoll & LeFoll, the law firm where he worked. He is also accused of stealing from his brother, an attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Prosecutors said Gionfriddo, who served as the town's mayor in 1993, embezzled $490,000 from LeFoll & LeFoll, a small Rocky Hill-based law firm. They also said Gionfriddo stole $457,000 from his attorney brother to repay the law firm.

The government charged Gionfriddo, who will be sentenced on Feb. 12, with wire fraud stemming from the alleged scheme. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

The complaint against Gionfriddo alleges that, while working for LeFoll & LeFoll as a paralegal from December 2013 through September 2017, he made bogus requisitions for about $378,000 in checks purportedly to pay client expenses. But, the government said, Gionfriddo converted the funds for his personal use. He forged the signature of one of the firm's partners to fraudulently convert a certificate of deposit of about $112,748 to a check. He then kept the money, according to the government.

When confronted by the principals of the law firm, the government said, Gionfriddo promised to repay them. But in doing so, authorities said, he stole from his brother, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. In total, Gionfriddo is said to have stolen $45,000 from his brother's checking account and about $217,000 from an online trading account. And, the government said, Gionfriddo also caused a hardship withdrawal of almost $200,000 to be made against his brother's retirement plan by impersonating him on recorded telephone lines with the plan's provider and by submitting false paperwork.

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Peter Kruzynski:

Former Shelton attorney Peter Kruzynski, who was sentenced in July to prison for engaging in sex with a minor boy, also in 2018 had his law license suspended until 2041.

The attorney pleaded guilty in January to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. In July, Kruzynski was sentenced to 13 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $215,000 in restitution.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Kruzynski, who was a general practitioner and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1994, used his mobile phone and text messaging to entice an underage boy to engage in sexual conduct. Court records show Kruzynski engaged in sex acts with the victim from between 2009-2016, beginning when the boy was 12 years old.

On one occasion, court documents said, Kruzynski used his phone to take photographs of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct when the boy was 17 years old.

According to prosecutors, Kruzynski used the photos of the boy to blackmail him.

“Mr. Kruzynski threatened to send the photographs to others if the victim ended their relationship or did not continue to spend time with Mr. Kruzynski,” the government sentencing memo stated.

Kruzynski was also charged with the production of child pornography. That charge was dismissed during sentencing.

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Thomas Murtha:

Thomas Murtha, a former longtime Bridgeport attorney who specialized in civil and criminal litigation, was sentenced last month to 78 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in stealing about $2 million from clients, friends and family members.

Murtha, who was a partner and managing member of the defunct Maher & Murtha, was also ordered during sentencing to pay total restitution of $1.99 million, and to forfeit a 2.11-carat diamond engagement ring and his interests in a house he owned in Michigan.

Prosecutors said Murtha operated a long-term fraud with more than 20 victims. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of wire fraud.

Murtha's victims, court papers said, included a brother and sister and their deceased cousin, who jointly owned a three-family house in Shelton. Murtha handled the cousin's estate and the sale of the home.

Murtha, who practiced law in Connecticut for 35 years, was also accused of forging documents from a mortgage and trust. The government claimed he used the money to purchase a $725,000 home in Michigan and the engagement ring. Prosecutors said Murtha stole about $2 million from individuals, including stealing more than $500,000 from an individual with mental health issues. As part of the scheme, the government said Murtha submitted false or forged documents to victims. He also incurred charges or credit cards in the names of others without their knowledge or permission, authorities said.

Madonna Sacco:

Madonna Sacco, a Bridgeport-based attorney with a history of sanctions by the court, was suspended in September from practicing law for 120 days for using profanity in court, lecturing opposing counsel and the judge, and allegedly making up testimony.

In his ruling against the attorney, Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher admonished Sacco for what he said were her constant disruptions of court proceedings.

In one instance, Sacco apparently forgot she had a lapel microphone on in court and, in explaining her strategy to co-counsel, said: “F— him. I am going to give him such a f—— hard time.” It was not clear if Sacco was talking about opposing counsel or the judge.

The judge wrote: “When wicked words beckon wicked deeds they are a matter of action. Here, those words reflect what Attorney Sacco was doing and would continue to do: willfully disrupt a proceeding in court. Indeed, they reflect what attorney Sacco appears to have done and has been sanctioned for six times over nearly a 20-year period.”

Sacco's name does not appear on the list of attorneys on the website of Heidell Pittoni Murphy & Bach, but her LinkedIn profile shows a nearly eight-year connection.

The latest sanction against Sacco stemmed from a dispute between her and opposing counsel in a medical malpractice case.

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Jodi Zils Gagne:

Jodi Zils Gagne, a former Bristol attorney and councilwoman in that town, pleaded guilty in October to one count of mail fraud in connection to a scheme to defraud several individuals she has represented as a court-appointed conservator. Zils Gagne is said to have stolen $169,000.

Prosecutors said Zils Gagne defrauded several people under the court's protection, including an impaired client older than 90 and another who had multiple sclerosis, by misappropriating their money and overbilling them.

The government said Zils Gagne, an attorney for 16 years, misappropriated money that was intended for her clients' medical care, housing, bills, and personal expenses.

In one case, Zils Gagne, the government said, defrauded a victim of about $130,000. She took $113,000 of that money under the guise of an investment when, in fact, it was a 10-year note that paid only a prime rate and was signed between her husband and her, as the victim's conservator. That money, authorities said, was used to fund Zils Gagne's husband's startup internet radio station in Bristol.

Zils Gagne also misrepresented, or failed to disclose, material facts about her conservatorship activities to the Bristol probate court and others, the government said. The illegal activity, authorities said, occurred between May 2015 and February 2018.

Zils Gagne now faces a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing is Jan. 23.

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