Neil O’Leary Issues Statement About Brothel Controversy In Waterbury Involving The Mayor

Former Waterbury police chief, Neil O’Leary, speaking at the Democrat Convention. 

   (Editor’s note – the following statement was issued by the O’Leary campaign in response to an article published in the Sunday issue of the Republican-American newspaper. O’Leary is the Democrat nominee for mayor, and the article was about his opponent, five-term incumbent, Mayor Mike Jarjura, who is seeking a record sixth term in office. The article in the Republican-American documented that Jarjura owned a building at 2154 East Main Street that was rented by a massage parlor.  A FBI investigation later unearthed that the brothel was part of an international human-trafficking operation. Mayor Jarjura told the daily newspaper he was unaware of the the activity going on inside the building. “Everything seemed to be in order,” Jarjura told the Republican-American. This is Neil O’Leary’s statement about the incident.)

   “My opponent has a lot of explaining to do. According to an article in Sunday’s Waterbury Republican-American, a property he owned was a brothel.  What else is he turning a blind eye to among his extensive real estate holdings?”

2154 East Main Street was owned by Mayor Mike Jarjura while it operated a house of prostitution.

   “During my tenure as police chief starting in 2004, we began an investigation into all the questionable massage establishments in the city. We closed 10 and also cooperated with federal law enforcement agencies on a human sex trafficking probe that reached all the way into New York City and connected back to Waterbury.

   “We also conducted a number of stings targeting prostitutes and their customers. These stings resulted in dozens of arrests.

Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura owns dozens of properties throughout the city and said he was unaware of what transpired inside 2154 East main Street.

   “Even though Mike Jarjura stood up in front of the zoning board recently and said he doesn’t want filth in this city, it’s apparent that he did not take the appropriate action to terminate this illegal behavior when it came to his own properties.”