The former police chief of Connecticut’s largest city pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges connected to what prosecutors called a corrupt process that led to his 2018 appointment, the Associated Press reports. Former Bridgeport Chief Armando “A. J.” Perez admitted receiving confidential information about the police chief’s examination, having two of his officers complete the written portion of the test and lying to federal authorities in an effort to cover up his actions. Bridgeport’s former acting personnel director, David Dunn, was expected to plead guilty for giving confidential testing information to Perez. Perez and Dunn resigned after being arrested last month.
Perez, 64, agreed to pay more than $149,000 in restitution to the city. Perez could face potential deportation because of his guilty pleas to two felonies—conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements to the FBI. He was born in Havana, Cuba, and is a naturalized citizen. According to criminal complaints, Dunn gave confidential materials, including answers to the oral portion of the police chief exam, to Perez and tailored the scoring criteria for that exam in Perez’s favor.