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Braddock trial continues District Judge 's courtroom, it's been said that he can get things done in Hartford and he's also someone who, after talking to, you want to take a shower. Sometime Wednesday afternoon, , a former Cheshire corrections officer, union treasurer, labor president and operative, will take the witness stand and describe the events that led to his arrest, 's trial, and the eventual defeat of as the Fifth District congressional candidate. Braddock, Donovan's campaign finance director, is accused of conspiring to violate federal election campaign laws. He allegedly helped falsify campaign donation records by not including the proper names of the donors in the Donovan campaign. His trial continues Wednesday. Soucy helped devise a scheme in which owners of roll-your-own-tobacco stores funneled contributions through associates and friends to Donovan's congressional campaign. The intent was to stifle legislation that would require the stores to pay the same tax and licensing fees as the cigarette companies. "That would have put us out of business," according to , a co-owner of in Waterbury, which was on the verge of making $378,000 a year by not paying the taxes and fees. Soucy told people like Rogers that he "owned" several prominent legislators in Hartford. He was so convincing that Rogers said having Soucy on your side was "better than having the governor." Then Soucy got stung by the FBI. On April 24, 2011, he was arrested by undercover FBI agents at the in New Haven and quickly turned on Rogers, Braddock and , Donovan's campaign manager. Wednesday, Soucy will begin telling the jury the story of his involvement in the scheme, and with Braddock. , Braddock's lawyer, told the jury in his opening statement that: "Soucy is a creep. He claims he owns people . He's the kind of guy who when you see him you want to walk the other way." "He makes your skin crawl," the Bridgeport lawyer continued. "You want to take a shower after talking to him." After agreeing to cooperate, Soucy wore a video and audio recording device to the 5th Congressional District Democratic nominating session in Waterbury. FBI agents also staked out the convention, watching who was meeting with whom. On May 9, 2012, about a week before the legislative session in Hartford was to end, Soucy, who was now cooperating with the FBI, told Rogers, "I'm going to be at the capitol tomorrow softening them up, letting them know more money is coming." Also testifying will be an undercover FBI agent, who portrayed himself as an investor in the roll-your-own-tobacco stores. On Tuesday, Rogers completed his testimony admitting under cross examination by Riccio that he also ran an illegal gambling operation out of Smoke House Tobacco, accepting more than 150 bets daily. Rogers pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and committing wire fraud by depriving Connecticut citizens of honest representation. He said he hoped his testimony and cooperation would lessen the sentence he receives. Also testifying Tuesday was Katie Pino, of Waterbury, an employee of Smoke House Tobacco. She said she gave Rogers a blank, signed check. She claimed she did not know it was going to be written up as a $2,500 donation to The Donovan For . In the state Capitol, where both the House and Senate were in session Tuesday, House Minority Leader Jr., R-Norwalk, said Soucy and the smokeshop owners first gave cash to a staff member. But the cash -- unacceptable under state law -- was immediately returned and two to three weeks later checks arrived for a House GOP political action committee. When Cafero was interviewed by the FBI at the end of May last year, he told them he would return the checks.
