From the New York Times
 
Rowland Faces New Charges, on Lobbying 
By William Yardley 
August 30, 2005 
 
HARTFORD, Aug. 29 - Former Gov. John G. Rowland, who is serving a year in federal prison in Pennsylvania on a corruption charge, is expected to return to Connecticut to face new felony charges that he violated the state's laws against lobbying after leaving office, his lawyer said on Monday. 
 
"We believe on the facts and the law that he has committed no crime," said Mr. Rowland's lawyer, R. Bartley Halloran. "Our biggest worry is whether he can get a fair trial." 
 
Mr. Halloran said on Monday that the chief state's attorney, Christopher L. Morano, was seeking a warrant from a state judge for Mr. Rowland's arrest. Mr. Morano did not respond to several requests for comment late Monday. Mr. Halloran said the former governor could face a Class D felony charge with a penalty of up to five years in prison. 
 
"We knew that an investigation was under way," he said. "We're disappointed, but I wouldn't say it's unexpected." 
 
Mr. Halloran said that Mr. Rowland could be charged with violating the state's so-called revolving-door statutes for his work representing a contractor, the Klewin Building Company, of Norwich. He began that work on July 8, 2004, one week after his resignation. Mr. Rowland, a Republican, received $5,000 a month from Klewin, a major contractor that had received $89 million in payments from the state during Mr. Rowland's tenure. 
 
Last November, Mr. Rowland approached an official from the University of Connecticut on Klewin's behalf to settle a $2 million billing dispute over work on a $33 million marine science center in Groton. The official, Lorraine M. Aronson, said later that she rejected Mr. Rowland's request. 
 
Mr. Rowland's work for Klewin became the subject of legislative hearings and civil and criminal investigations after knowledge of it became public at Mr. Rowland's sentencing in March. The revolving-door laws bar public officials from lobbying their former agencies for a year after leaving government service. In the case of the governor, it is less than clear whether the ban applies solely to the governor's staff or to the entire executive branch. 
 
Mr. Halloran, who began representing Mr. Rowland in an ethics complaint in July, said his client would likely be transferred to a state prison within the next 30 days, under an arrangement he said was common when federal inmates faced new state charges. He said Mr. Morano refused an offer he made last week to waive any statutes of limitations. He said the agreement would have allowed Mr. Rowland to serve out his term in federal prison before returning to face state charges upon his release, scheduled for February. 
 
"We're concerned about not only his safety but the safety of the people who have to watch him," Mr. Halloran said. "Needless to say, the family is very upset." 
 
Noting Mr. Rowland's tough prison policies during nearly three terms as governor, including shipping many inmates out of state, he said Mr. Rowland had received "scores of death threats while he was in office that were traced to state prisons." 
 
Mr. Halloran also said he was worried that Mr. Rowland would not receive a fair trial in the state because of the widespread attention and public criticism surrounding his resignation and criminal conviction. 
 
Mr. Halloran said he spoke to Mr. Rowland regularly by phone. He said he was being joined in defending Mr. Rowland by John Droney, a private lawyer in Farmington, and Raymond Levites, a former assistant United States attorney now in private practice in New York. 
 
Mr. Halloran said he did not think Mr. Rowland would face charges for work he did for the National Science Center Foundation, which also came under scrutiny this year. Mr. Rowland received $10,000 a month from the Georgia-based supplier of math software, which received $1.6 million from Connecticut while Mr. Rowland was governor. 
 
Mr. Rowland pleaded guilty in December to a federal conspiracy charge for accepting more than $107,000 in gifts from people doing business with the state, and for not paying taxes on the gifts. 
 
In March, Mr. Rowland's former lawyer, William F. Dow III of New Haven, negotiated his year-and-a day sentence before Judge Peter C. Dorsey of United States District Court. Federal prosecutors, seeking a much longer sentence, cited the Klewin and National Science Center Foundation work in support of their request. 
 
Mr. Rowland, who is incarcerated at Loretto Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania, has spent some of his time teaching a class on how to polish a résumé and interview for a job.
~~~