Press Releases
09/18/2019
Bridgeport Attorney Charged With Felony Failure to Appear After Pleading Guilty to Stealing Money From Client
A New Jersey man who had practiced law in Bridgeport was arrested today and charged with one count of failing to appear in court for his sentencing after he pled guilty to stealing more than $15,000 from a client.
ALFRED J. CALI, age 62, with a last known address of 114 Eagle Street, 2nd Floor, North Arlington, New Jersey, was arrested by Inspectors from the Statewide Prosecution Bureau of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
According to the original arrest warrant affidavit, while an attorney practicing in Bridgeport, Cali deposited into his personal bank account checks totaling $15,614.55 that he received from a client to be forwarded to a lender in a federal bankruptcy proceeding.
On May 29, 2019, Cali pled guilty in Bridgeport Superior Court, G.A. No. 2, under the Alford Doctrine to one count of Larceny in the Second Degree and was facing a maximum sentence of 8 years, execution suspended after 2 years served, followed by 5 years of probation.
The case was continued until July 11, 2019 for sentencing but Cali failed to appear and a re-arrest was ordered.
Statewide Prosecution Bureau Inspectors were recently notified that Cali had been taken into custody in New Jersey. He was extradited to Connecticut Tuesday and arraigned on the Failure to Appear charge today. Bond was set at $750,000 and the case was continued until October 8, 2019.
The charge is merely an accusation and Cali is presumed innocent unless and until he is found guilty. Failure to Appear in the First Degree is a class D felony punishable by not less than 1 year nor more than 5 years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.