Louis DeLuca was born in
Everett, Massachusetts. He was elected to the senate in 1990, representing Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury, Oxford, Roxbury, Seymour, Southbury, Thomaston, Watertown and Woodbury. He served as Senate Minority Leader in the
Connecticut State Senate from 2002 to 2007. DeLuca assisted in the successful effort to ban
MTBE from Connecticut's gasoline supplies. For his efforts, he received environmental awards from the Housatonic Valley Association and the Pomperaug Watershed Coalition. DeLuca announced his opposition to the proposal of Governor
Jodi Rell to increase the state income tax to pay for added education funding.
Scandal On June 1, 2007, DeLuca was arrested upon allegations that he asked
James Galante, a businessman linked to a garbage corruption scandal, to intervene in a domestic abuse problem of a family member. Galante is reported to have paid
Matthew Ianniello of the
Genovese crime family $120,000 a year in protection money for his Connecticut and Westchester Country trash-hauling routes. On June 4, 2007, DeLuca pleaded guilty to a
misdemeanor threatening charge, received a suspended sentence, and was ordered to pay a fine. A special senate committee was convened to determine if DeLuca should be officially sanctioned. One Republican state senator,
David Cappiello, called on DeLuca to resign his seat. On October 15, 2007, DeLuca testified in front of the committee investigating him, acknowledging under oath that he asked Galante to threaten his grandson-in-law and that he also knowingly had lied to
FBI officers when they questioned him during their investigation. He also told the committee that he reported to
Waterbury Chief of Police
Neil O'Leary of his granddaughter's alleged abuse but the chief refused to investigate the claim. O'Leary, in response, said that he is willing to testify under oath in front of the committee to give his side of the story. On November 13, 2007, DeLuca announced his resignation from the Senate, effective November 30, 2007. Watertown councilman Rob Kane, a Republican, was elected in a January 15, 2008, special election to serve out the balance of DeLuca's term. ==Death==