Drew Rankin, Misusing Funds, Connecticut 2024

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Drew Rankin Sentenced to 1 Year for Misusing Funds, New Haven CT, 2024

Drew Rankin, the former chief executive officer of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Corporation, has been sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment for misusing CMEEC funds.

Rankin, 62, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven. He is also required to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

CMEEC is a cooperative public corporation that allows municipal electric utilities in Connecticut to join together to furnish electric power in the municipalities’ areas of operation. The corporation received over $9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy between 2010 and 2015, and its member towns also received funds from federal grants.

According to evidence presented during a trial in 2021, Rankin and certain members of the CMEEC Board of Directors planned and organized lavish trips outside of Connecticut, including trips to the Kentucky Derby and a luxury golf resort in West Virginia. The trips totaled over $800,000 and were intended to personally benefit Rankin and others.

Rankin underreported the costs of the trips and made other false statements to reporters in response to inquiries about the trips. CMEEC canceled a reservation for the 2017 Kentucky Derby and was refunded only approximately $90,000 of the $298,960 it had prepaid for the trip.

Rankin was found guilty of one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds, along with James Sullivan and John Bilda, former chairperson and City of Norwich representative on the CMEEC Board of Directors, respectively. Sullivan is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow, and Bilda is scheduled to be sentenced on May 18.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Energy. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah P. Karwan, Michael S. McGarry, and Tara E. Levens.

Rankin was released on $100,000 bond and is required to report to prison on July 11.