DANBURY - The former owner of the now-defunct Newtown Oil Company, who was convicted of stealing more than $300,000 in 2002 from many residential heating fuel customers in a fraud scheme, was sentenced this week in state Superior Court for violating his 2008 terms of probation in that case. Sentencing

On March 22, Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo found William A. Trudeau, Jr, 53, of Norwalk guilty of violation of probation following a court hearing on the matter.

On April 19, Judge Russo sentenced Trudeau to a five-year state prison term, which will be served concurrently with Trudeau's current unrelated 16-year federal prison term.

Trudeau received that federal prison term after a federal jury found him guilty in 2012 of wire fraud and criminal conspiracy. Those two convictions stemmed from Trudeau's involvement in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme in Fairfield County. The jury found Trudeau not guilty of other charges in that federal case.

When Trudeau was sentenced in November 2008 on nine felony-level larceny and conspiracy convictions in the Newtown Oil case, a judge gave Trudeau a 25-year suspended prison sentence, plus five years' probation. Also, Trudeau was required to make restitution to customers who were bilked out of their money. That scam affected customers in nine area towns.

The nine crimes underlying the violation of probation charge include three counts of first-degree larceny, five counts of second-degree larceny, and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny.

In the early 2000s when the price of home heating fuel rose above $1 per gallon for the first time, many home heating fuel companies promoted prepaid fuel contracts, through which customers would make a large advance payment at a good price to buy a large amount of fuel.

Newtown Oil advertised such fuel contracts at very low prices, attracting many people who made advance payments. However, Newtown Oil could not provide all the fuel that had been ordered, resulting in many customers not getting the fuel they had bought. Many of those fuel contract buyers were people over age 60, according to court documents.

Because Trudeau had violated the 2008 terms of his Newtown Oil case probation by being arrested/convicted of wire fraud, Newtown police sought and received a warrant for Trudeau's arrest for violation of probation, lodging that charge in January 2016.

After that arrest, Trudeau was held in state prison. He will be returned to federal prison to complete his 16-year federal term. Before his violation of probation arrest, Trudeau was being housed at the federal minimum-security prison in Ayer, Mass. His federal sentence is scheduled to run until May 17, 2025.

In court on April 19, Danbury State's Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky, III, argued before Judge Russo that Trudeau should be sentenced to 15 years in state prison to start after Trudeau completes his 16-year federal prison term.

Attorney Kevin Black, representing Trudeau, argued for leniency for his client. In a sentencing memorandum, Mr Black wrote,"The defense believes Mr Trudeau has been punished far beyond both what others in his situation receive generally, and maybe more importantly, far more than other co-defendants who were involved, specifically."

In court, Trudeau also asked Judge Russo for leniency in sentencing.

On April 21, Mr Sedensky said of the court proceeding, "Both sides were fairly heard... Judge Russo made his decision."

Of the Newtown Oil case, Mr Sedensky said, "I was pleased that [Trudeau] provided restitution to the victims... I was disappointed that he continued his criminal violations."