Judicial Marshal Michael Connelly, who was arrested last week on a charge of promoting prostitution, has had multiple run-ins with code of conduct violations, according to documents obtained by NBC Connecticut.
He was arrested last week at his home by Connecticut State Police.
Connelly is the brother of the late Waterbury State Attorney John Connelly.
Following 18 years with a clean service record, things began to go south for Connelly in 2001 when he was investigated and later found to have viewed pornography on a Waterbury judge’s computer. Following the results of the investigation, Connelly was fired.
A judge later heard the details of the case during arbitration and reinstated Connelly’s employment. In his ruling, the judge wrote that even though there was no doubt that Connelly had used judicial property for personal use to view content like sports and gambling information, the conduct was not illegal, and there was no reason for Connelly to assume that he would have been fired for such conduct.
In other instances, Connelly was investigated for making lewd gestures in an open courtroom and for displaying a picture of a naked woman on his cell phone.
Connelly’s attorney, Lenny Crone, responded to the recent charge against Connelly and the previous issues during an exclusive interview.
“They have nothing to do with Mike’s arrest. Nothing at all. Two totally separate issues.”
Crone said of the current charge against his client that he’s seen no evidence to support the claim.
He said the case itself has only made it into the public arena because of his last name and his brother’s stature in Waterbury and across the state.
“Anytime you’re associated with or related to a well known person you get the benefits of that relationship and you also get what won’t be the benefits, the negative parts of that and I think that’s happening with Mike” Crone said.
Crone described the charge against Connelly as “run of the mill.”
He also said it’s key to remember that a judge ruled in the past that he had not done anything illegal.
Connelly has his first court appearance December 10.
