Seventh defendant in campaign finance scandal gets 6 months in prison

It’s good to be cooperative.

Paul Rogers, 41, of Middlebury, one of the smoke shop owners caught up in a conspiracy to bribe a state legislator to keep the roll-your-own business tax free, was sentenced to six months in prison Wednesday, a reward for his cooperation wilth federal authorities.

U.S. District Judge Janet B. Arterton imposed the penalty, which was a sharp departure from most of the other sentences handed down in the case. The other exception was Ray Soucy, who wore a wire and gathered evidence for authorities. He was sentenced to six months in a halfway house.

Five other defendants got prison time ranging from 21 months to 38 months.

Authorities said Rogers, who also is a bookie, cooperated in the bribery case and other unnamed legal matters.

The bribery case involved illegal conributions to the unsuccessful congressional campaign of Christopher G. Donovan in 2012, when he still was speaker of the Connecticut House. Donovan was never charged.