2026-09-18 11:18:39 EDT / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
康涅狄格州民主党州长的前高级预算官员因腐败指控在量刑前乘船乘飞机逃离美国，目前已成为希腊的在逃人员，其律师和检察官周四向联邦法官证实了这一消息。
70岁的康斯坦丁诺斯·“科斯塔”·迪亚曼蒂斯还向其律师发送了一封10页的电子邮件，指责内德·拉蒙特州长利用司法系统对付他，否认自己有不当行为，并称起诉毁了他的生活、声誉和家庭关系。
据哥伦比亚广播公司下属电视台WFSB-TV报道，迪亚曼蒂斯于2025年10月被判犯有21项贿赂和勒索罪。他原定于周四在布里奇波特联邦法院接受量刑，届时可能面临超过10年的监禁。
迪亚曼蒂斯也曾是前民主党州议员，他被联邦陪审团认定在2018年至2021年间勒索私人承包商，收取数千美元贿赂，以帮助这些公司保住并获得价值数百万美元的学校建筑合同。当时他对记者表示，自己害怕入狱。
目前尚不清楚将拥有美国和希腊双重国籍的迪亚曼蒂斯引渡回美国的前景如何。希腊法院已支持“禁止引渡希腊公民”的主张。
迪亚曼蒂斯据称乘船前往巴哈马，再乘飞机前往英国
当局和迪亚曼蒂斯的律师诺曼·帕蒂斯均未透露迪亚曼蒂斯离开美国的具体时间。
联邦检察官表示，他乘船从佛罗里达州前往巴哈马，随后登上飞往伦敦的航班。他们称，尽管迪亚曼蒂斯已上交美国护照，但他仍获取了希腊护照。帕蒂斯表示，他在周三晚间的电话中从迪亚曼蒂斯处得知，对方已身在希腊，不会出席量刑听证会。
据WFSB-TV报道，新的量刑听证会已定于9月30日举行。即便迪亚曼蒂斯不会到场，联邦检察官表示，法官仍将决定后续处理方式。
康涅狄格州官员周四迅速谴责迪亚曼蒂斯逃往国外的行为，并采取措施停发其州养老金。
“科斯塔·迪亚曼蒂斯背叛了公众的信任，必须为自己的行为承担责任，”州长在一份声明中表示，“他屡次逃避司法制裁的行为令人不齿。我希望他尽快被抓获并接受应有的惩罚。”
科斯塔·迪亚曼蒂斯2025年10月3日抵达康涅狄格州布里奇波特的联邦法院。戴夫·扎亚克/《康涅狄格邮报》通过盖蒂图片社拍摄
同样是民主党人的州总检察长威廉·唐补充道：“他今日的出逃是对所有康涅狄格州民众的可耻侮辱，但这不会阻止我们全力维护州利益和纳税人钱财的努力。”
检方寻求判处十年监禁
检方请求法官判处迪亚曼蒂斯10至12年监禁，而帕蒂斯则在法庭文件中主张对其免予监禁，但需施加严格的监管条件。
庭审结束后，这位辩护律师告诉记者，他对迪亚曼蒂斯逃往国外的行为感到意外。
“我认为迪亚曼蒂斯今天面临着艰难的处境，至少会被判处4至5年监禁，甚至可能是10至12年，”他说，“作为一名律师，我无法支持他擅自执法的决定。但作为一个普通人，我理解他为何做出这样的选择。”
“你有两个选择，”帕蒂斯周四对WFSB-TV表示，“要么在你的老年黄金岁月里度过接下来的5年，看牢头的眼色行事，要么逃往希腊。”
前警探布莱恩·福利对WFSB-TV表示，他相信联邦检察官将成功将迪亚曼蒂斯引渡回美国。
“当山姆大叔颜面尽失时，他们会投入大量资源寻找逃犯，”他告诉该电视台，“我保证这已经在进行中了，他已经被列入美国乃至海外的所有逃犯名单，我们应该能查到他的下落。”
迪亚曼蒂斯自被捕以来一直坚称自己无罪
帕蒂斯向媒体提供了迪亚曼蒂斯发送给他的电子邮件副本。
“针对我和我的家人所遭遇的政治迫害，其不公程度超乎想象，”迪亚曼蒂斯在邮件中写道，“我失去了一辈子打拼来的一切，甚至更多。失去家园、失去孩子们的住所、失去汽车、失去工作、失去再就业的能力、失去律师执照、失去荣誉、尊严和骄傲，这一切都令人崩溃。”
他表示希望特朗普总统和华盛顿特区的美国检察官办公室能够审视他的案件。迪亚曼蒂斯声称，拉蒙特利用“其公职权力以及与拜登总统的深厚友谊，构建了一个封闭的司法体系”，目的是掩盖州长本人的不当行为。
迪亚曼蒂斯还有另一桩 pending的联邦刑事案件，他被控收受贿赂以叫停对一名被控医疗补助欺诈的眼科医生的州审计。
证人称曾向迪亚曼蒂斯递送现金信封
在学校建筑拨款案中，迪亚曼蒂斯被指控利用其担任州学校建设拨款与审查办公室主任的职务，在2018年至2021年间索要并最终收取承包商的数千美元贿赂，为他们承揽建筑合同提供便利。
他被指控如果不付钱，就威胁终止这些合同。
庭审期间，证人作证称曾在多个地点向迪亚曼蒂斯递送现金信封，包括一家高档餐厅的男洗手间、一家甜甜圈店和他的家中。部分付款在信息中被称为“生日贺卡”、“帕尔斯”和“伯迪兹”。
迪亚曼蒂斯在为自己辩护时作证称，他确实收到了这笔钱，但坚称这是合法的咨询收入。
Facing 10 years in prison, ex-Connecticut official Kosta Diamantis flees U.S. by boat and plane to Greece
2026-09-18 11:18:39 EDT / CBS/AP
A former senior budget official for Connecticut’s Democratic governor is now a fugitive in Greece after fleeing the U.S. by boat and plane ahead of his sentencing for corruption, his lawyer and prosecutors told a federal judge on Thursday.
Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, 70, also sent his attorney a 10-page email accusing Gov. Ned Lamont of weaponizing the justice system against him, denying wrongdoing and saying his life, reputation and family relationships were ruined by the prosecution.
Diamantis was found guilty in October 2025 on 21 counts of bribery and extortion, CBS affiliate WFSB-TV reported. He could have faced more than 10 years in prison at his sentencing Thursday in federal court in Bridgeport.
Diamantis, who was also a former Democratic state representative, was convicted by a federal jury of extorting private contractors for thousands of dollars in bribes from 2018 to 2021, in exchange for helping the companies keep and obtain work on multimillion-dollar school construction contracts. He told reporters at the time that he was afraid to go to prison.
The prospects of returning Diamantis — who holds both American and Greek citizenship — to the U.S. are unclear. Greek courts have upheld the claim that extradition of Greek nationals is forbidden.
Diamantis allegedly took boat to Bahamas, flew to U.K.
Authorities and Diamantis’ lawyer, Norman Pattis, did not say when Diamantis left the U.S.
Federal prosecutors said he traveled by boat from Florida to the Bahamas, then boarded a plane to London. They said that although Diamantis had surrendered his U.S. passport, he obtained a Greek passport. Pattis said he was told by Diamantis during a phone call Wednesday night that he was in Greece and would not be attending the sentencing.
A new sentencing hearing has been set for Sept. 30, WFSB-TV reports. While Diamantis may not be there, federal prosecutors said a judge will determine what comes next.
Connecticut officials were quick Thursday to condemn Diamantis for fleeing the country and took steps to stop his state pension payments.
“Kosta Diamantis betrayed the public’s trust and needs to be held accountable for his actions,” the governor said in a statement. “His repeated efforts to skirt justice are shameful. I hope he is apprehended and made to face the music as soon as possible.”
Kosta Diamantis arrives at federal court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Oct. 3, 2025. Dave Zajac/Connecticut Post via Getty Images
State Attorney General William Tong, also a Democrat, added in a statement, “His disappearance this morning is a shameful insult to every person in Connecticut and will not deter our efforts to fully protect the state’s interest and taxpayer dollars.”
Prosecutors sought a decade-long prison sentence
Prosecutors asked the judge to send Diamantis to prison for 10 to 12 years, while Pattis argued in court documents for a sentence that included no prison time but strict conditions of release.
After the court hearing, the defense attorney told reporters that he was surprised that Diamantis fled the country.
“I think that Mr. Diamantis was facing a tough day here today and would have gotten at least four or five years, perhaps 10 to 12,” he said. “So as a lawyer, I cannot support his decision to take the law into his own hands. But as a fellow human being, I understand why he did what he did.”
“You’ve got two choices,” Pattis told WFSB-TV on Thursday. “Spend the next five years of your senior citizenship or your golden years asking Bubba for permission to stand in line or go to Greece.”
Former police Detective Brian Foley told WFSB-TV that he believes federal prosecutors will be successful in their efforts to get Diamantis back to the United States.
“When Uncle Sam gets egg on their face, they dedicate a lot of resources into finding that person,” Foley told the station. “I guarantee that’s already happening and he’s on every fugitive list in the U.S. and overseas as well, as we should get a line on him.”
Diamantis maintained his innocence since his arrest
Pattis provided copies of the email Diamantis sent to him to media outlets.
“The injustice that has occurred to me and my family by political weaponization is beyond rational belief,” Diamantis wrote in the email. “I have lost everything that took me an entire lifetime to earn and more. It is devastating to lose your home, your children’s home, your car, your job, the ability to get a job, your law license, your honor, your dignity and pride.”
He said he hopes President Trump and the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington would take a look at his case. Diamantis claimed Lamont used “the power of his office and his powerful friendship with President Biden to create an insular system of justice” aimed at protecting the governor’s own wrongdoing.
Diamantis has another pending criminal case in federal court, where he’s accused of taking bribes to quash a state audit of an eye doctor accused of Medicaid fraud.
Witnesses said they gave Diamantis envelopes of cash
In the school construction grants case, Diamantis was convicted of using his position as director of the state’s Office of School Construction Grants and Review to demand and ultimately receive thousands of dollars in bribes from contractors to steer building contracts their way, from 2018 to 2021.
He was accused of threatening to terminate those contracts if he wasn’t paid.
During the trial, witnesses testified about handing Diamantis envelopes of cash at various locations, including a men’s room at an upscale restaurant, a doughnut shop and his home. Some payments were referred to in messages as “birthday cards,” “pars” and “birdies.”
Diamantis, who testified in his own defense, admitted that he received the money but insisted it was legitimate consulting income.
