Ex-Connecticut official flees to Greece before sentencing for corruption

Konstantinos Diamantis, a former Connecticut deputy budget director, has fled to Greece to avoid sentencing. Diamantis was convicted by a federal jury on 21 charges, including bribery and extortion. He extorted private contractors for thousands of dollars in bribes to secure multimillion-dollar school construction contracts. Prosecutors had requested a prison sentence of 10 to 12 years. The 70-year-old official escaped the country shortly before his scheduled court hearing on Thursday, according to legal representatives.