By Will Collette
 |
| The new Copar operation in Charlestown. Note how close its operations are to the Pawcatuck River |
Copar Industries of Connecticut now owns two
quarrying operations nearby, one in Bradford on Route 216 and the other in
Charlestown on Route 91.
The Bradford site has been a complete
headache for its neighbors in Westerly and Charlestown
for months, subject of dozens of federal, state and local citations for
violations of environmental, safety and zoning laws, and citizen complaints and
lawsuits.
The Charlestown site hasn’t caused trouble yet, but
it started out by operating without a license for three months. Even though
town officials knew Copar was there,
operating without a license, and even though the town has officially chastised Copar for its
misconduct in Bradford, Charlestown did nothing to stop Copar from expanding
into Charlestown.
 |
| This 2012 close-up of the Charlestown operation, before Copar took over, shows the mine at about 80 feet from the Pawcatuck River. Copar was busted at its Bradford site for wetlands violations. But hey, what could go wrong here? |
In Parts 1 through 4, I introduced you to the four
main corporate players at Copar. There’s CEO
Sam Cocopard who has been busted for almost thirty
financial crimes and was convicted of most of the charges. He’s currently on a
suspended sentence for robbing Rhode Island’s major waste hauler Joe Vinagro of
$20,000.
There’s money
guy Phil Armetta, one of Connecticut’s top trash
haulers, who served federal prison time.
 |
| Phil Armetta - Copar's money guy. Photo courtesy of Stephen Devoto, Middletown (CT) Eye News. He specializes in putting waste sites in old quarries |
There’s Chief
Financial Officer Randy Roberge who was banned from
the mortgage banking business by the Connecticut Banking Commissioner for
leading one of the major subprime mortgage companies into bankruptcy and
contributing to America’s financial collapse.
There’s corporate Controller
Daniel Thibodeau who was prosecuted by the state of
Connecticut for defrauding dozens of his clients.
Maybe you’re asking yourself – as I certainly asked
myself – how does a crew like this, who behave so badly in Rhode Island, behave
in their own backyard? Do they draw as much heat as they have since they set up
shop here?
Maybe you’re asking yourself – as I certainly asked
myself – how does a crew like this accumulate the capital to operate a multi-state string
of quarries and waste sites, plus operate a big, beautiful fleet of at least 30 trucks and sophisticated mining equipment?
Maybe you’re asking yourself – as I certainly asked
myself – if there’s anyone in Rhode Island – in the Westerly or Charlestown
Town Governments or any of the state agencies who regulate companies like
Copar, that did any due diligence on them before giving them permits?
Copar’s
Connecticut Track Record
I ran a Westlaw
database search on Copar’s legal issues in Connecticut. I
got so many hits that I had to break the data down into subcategories to make
it possible to digest them. I created files for Copar lawsuits, civil judgments
and tax liens against Copar and Copar's borrowing.
The files show that Copar and all its subsidiaries
are sued often by a very interesting and diverse array of companies and people.
More significantly, when I looked at the judgments and liens, it was also clear
to me that Copar frequently loses, as courts across Connecticut have ruled in
favor of people suing Copar and CEO Sam Cocopard.
I’ve spent most of my forty years researching
companies and investigating their track records. I know Copar’s industry well
enough to know what’s unusual and what is not.
Based on my professional experience, I can say that based on the Westlaw records, Copar spends an unusually large amount of its time defending itself in court. They also lose a lot more often than I would expect to see.
Based on my professional experience, I can say that based on the Westlaw records, Copar spends an unusually large amount of its time defending itself in court. They also lose a lot more often than I would expect to see.
Let’s look at the detail. Again, because of the
amount of material, I am going to need two articles to cover it. In this
article, I’ll show you what I found in the court records on Copar’s record in
Connecticut. In the next article, we’ll take a close look at who is financing
Copar’s adventures, both here in Rhode Island and in their home base in
Connecticut.
Six tax liens, eight bankruptcies, 29 civil judgments – other than that, it’s all good
Here is a table that shows civil judgments and tax
liens against Copar. These are settled cases: each of the 29 judgments I found represents
the findings of a court that Copar and or Sam or Nancy Cocopard owed the
creditor money and is ordered to pay. The six tax liens speak for themselves.
Also note the frequent number of individual and corporate bankruptcies – I
found eight.
Cocopard was also ordered to make restitution after
each of his larceny convictions. He has been ordered to re-pay the $20,000 he
was convicted in January of stealing from Rhode Island waste hauler Joe
Vinagro.
And again, you have to wonder: with this record, how do they stay in business?
Tax Liens,
Civil Judgments and Bankruptcies
(Sam Cocopard and Nancy Cocopardi are often named individually
as a co-debtors)
Date
|
Creditor
|
Debtor
|
Amount
|
NOTES
|
06/01/93
|
Hesco
Inc
|
Sam
Cocopardi[1]
|
$658
|
|
04/20/95
|
Bankruptcy, Chap. 7
|
Sam
Cocopardi
|
||
10/04/99
|
Bankruptcy, Chap. 13
|
Sam
Cocopardi
|
||
12/17/99
|
Bankruptcy, Chap. 13
|
Sam
Cocopardi
|
||
09/06/00
|
Bankruptcy, Chap. 13
|
Sam
Cocopardi
|
||
03/07/03
|
State
of Connecticut
|
Copar
Construction
|
$1,149
|
State
tax lien
|
03/18/03
|
Charles A. Regulbuto
|
Sam
Cocopard
|
$1,232
|
|
06/06/03
|
IRS
|
Nancy
Cocopardi
|
$36,797
|
Federal
tax lien, released 5/24/04
|
06/09/03
|
Bankruptcy, Chap. 13
|
Nancy
Cocopardi
|
||
06/24/03
|
Tyler
Equipment
|
Copar
Construction
|
n/a
|
|
06/26/03
|
Town
of Chester
|
Nancy
Cocopardi
|
$1,940
|
Town
Tax lien
|
07/15/03
|
Bankruptcy, Chap. 7
|
Cocopardi
Equipment
|
||
10/06/03
|
Keystone
Equipment
|
Nancy
Cocopardi
|
n/a
|
|
10/17/03
|
Journal-Inquirer
|
Copar
Construction
|
$265
|
Newspaper
|
10/29/03
|
Reliable
Oil LLC
|
Copar
Construction
|
$1568
|
Names
Nancy Cocopardi
|
11/03/03
|
Fleet
Nat’l Bank
|
Copar
Construction
|
n/a
|
|
11/18/03
|
Michael
Donnelly Falcon’s Cry Fund
|
Copar
Corporation
|
$1,621
|
Charity
for scholarships founded by disabled (now deceased) Iraq War hero
|
12/05/03
|
B.
Gluck Trucking
|
Copar
Construction
|
n/a
|
|
12/15/03
|
Bankruptcy
|
Nancy
Cocopardi
|
||
04/14/04
|
Day
Publishing
|
Copar
Construction
|
$3,451
|
Newspaper
|
10/18/04
|
MRC
Receivables
|
Sam
Cocopard
|
$2,971
|
|
05/11/05
|
IRS
|
Nancy
Cocopardi
|
$5,450
|
Federal
tax lien
|
07/14/05
|
B.
Gluck Trucking
|
Copar
Construction
|
$2,393
|
|
07/14/05
|
Anchor
Engineering
|
Copar
Construction
|
$2,393
|
|
07/29/05
|
Marvin
Morgenbesser
|
Copar
Construction
|
n/a
|
|
11/21/05
|
Fuss
& O’Neill
|
Copar
Earth Products
|
$2.391
|
|
01/23/06
|
IRS
|
Copar
Earth Products
|
$507
|
Federal
tax lien
|
02/02/06
|
Day
Publishing
|
Copar
Earth Products
|
$3,502
|
newspaper
|
07/18/06
|
Central
Auto & Transport
|
Copar
Earth Products
|
$4,109
|
|
10/19/06
|
Manchester
Medical Supply
|
Copar
Earth Products
|
n/a
|
|
11/20/06
|
IRS
|
Copar
Earth Products
|
$64
|
Federal
tax lien
|
03/09/06
|
United
Rentals
|
Copar
Construction
|
$1,207
|
|
07/17/06
|
Erin
Capital Management
|
Copar
Construction
|
$730
|
They
buy other companies’ bad debts and then go after the debtor
|
08/18/06
|
Julie
Brink
|
Copar
Construction
|
n/a
|
|
10/25/06
|
JME
Enterprises
|
Copar
Construction
|
n/a
|
|
02/27/07
|
WI
Clark Co.
|
Copar
Construction
|
n/a
|
|
06/09/09
|
DiCesare
Bentley Engineers
|
Sam
Cocopard
|
$5,035
|
|
11/06/09
|
Robert
Half Int’l
|
Copar
Corporation
|
n/a
|
Temp
agency
|
06/08/10
|
Capital
One Bank
|
Sam
Cocopard
|
$670
|
|
02/11/10
|
Matthew
Donovan
|
Copar
Corporation
|
n/a
|
|
08/27/10
|
Portfolio
Recovery Associates
|
Samuel
Cocopard
|
$7,167
|
|
6/27/12
|
Cavalry
SPV I
|
Samuel
Cocopard
|
$1,271
|
I noted the
three instances where Copar stiffed a local newspaper. It’s not very often that
I see companies with controversial track records like Copar stiff a newspaper
since that doesn’t help the company very much when it has public relations
problems.
Copar took out ads recently in the Westerly Sun (right). I am eagerly waiting to see whether the Sun joins the list of newspapers taking Copar to court as a deadbeat.
 |
| Copar's ad in the Westerly Sun. They took this ad out BEFORE they had a Charlestown business license |
Copar took out ads recently in the Westerly Sun (right). I am eagerly waiting to see whether the Sun joins the list of newspapers taking Copar to court as a deadbeat.
All of these
civil judgments, tax liens and bankruptcies cast a serious cloud over Sam
Cocopard and his business dealings.
When you also add in his life of crime,
busted on almost thirty different financial crimes and currently serving a
suspended sentence for robbing Joe Vinagro of $20,000, it makes you wonder how
Cocopard has been able to put together the capital to launch and even expand
the Copar empire.
After all, the
information I’ve used in this series of articles are all public records
available to any researcher who knows how to do due diligence.
In the next
article, we’ll take a close look at whose money is bankrolling Sam Cocopard and
the Copar enterprises.
FOOTNOTE
[1]
Sam Cocopard and his wife Nancy used to routinely go by the name “Cocopardi.” I
did not find a legal record indicating a formal change of name, but in recent
years, the “I” at the end of his name disappeared.
Many of their businesses are in Nancy’s name. Others are in Sam’s. It is also unclear whether they are still married. Nancy filed for divorce on March 28, 2005, but that petition was withdrawn on March 23, 2006. I found no subsequent Family Court filings
Many of their businesses are in Nancy’s name. Others are in Sam’s. It is also unclear whether they are still married. Nancy filed for divorce on March 28, 2005, but that petition was withdrawn on March 23, 2006. I found no subsequent Family Court filings