HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A former Middletown mayor and councilman was sentenced Friday to 2 years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from law clients to cover gambling debts. Stephen T. Gionfriddo, 56, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Friday. He pleaded guilty in June to mail fraud and wire fraud.

Prosecutors said Gionfriddo stole more than $600,000 dollars from clients of his law firm. Prosecutors said that Gionfriddo began stealing from clients to cover gambling losses that began in 2000 when he began going to the Mohegan Sun Casino.

In court Friday, prosecutors said, Gionfriddo presented witnesses who described his gambling addiction.

Prosecutors said Gionfriddo initially covered the gambling losses at the casino by taking cash advances on his credit card and ran up $250,000 in credit card advances, at least 75 percent of which was related to his gambling.

In order to cover the mounting expenses, Gionfriddo admitted that he began to steal client funds.

Gionfriddo served on the Common Council for more than 20 years. He served as mayor for six months after Sebastian Garafalo stepped down to assume duties as the tax collector in 1993.

U.S. District Judge Christopher H. Droney scheduled a hearing for Nov. 15 to decide how much money Gionfriddo must pay back.

Sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 41 to 51 months.

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