By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First

A Connecticut man, who is charged with defrauding the office of the Vermont State Treasurer out of nearly $475,000, had his federal court hearing postponed Thursday when he tested positive for drugs.

Cirt F. Lindsay, 43, of Bridgeport, Conn. was due to plead guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud by stealing the money from the Unclaimed Property Division for the Vermont State Treasurer’s Office, federal court records show.

The indictment said Lindsay conspired with at least two swindlers to trick the Vermont Treasurer’s office into forwarding him a state check for $467,067 that was intended for a former Essex Junction man then living in Florida.  Lindsay and others had spent all but $5,300 by August 2022, the indictment said.

As court convened on Thursday, Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss noted Lindsay had tested positive for THC while meeting earlier in the day with the U.S. Probation Office.  THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in certain drugs, including marijuana and hashish.

Reiss said Lindsay tried to explain he had not smoked anything, but that he had been around people using illegal drugs.

The longtime judge said she did not find Lindsay’s explanation credible.  Reiss stated various national studies have shown that close proximity to a drug will not cause a positive test in others.

The judge said she would not proceed with the planned change of plea because it was unknown if Lindsay was high or not for the court hearing.

Reiss also said the court would order the drug test to be sent to a laboratory for further examination.

Assistant Federal Defender H. Samuel Ansell said his client was willing to retract the earlier statement he provided to the Probation Office about being near drug users causing the positive test.

Reiss said she appreciated Lindsay’s candor.  She noted that would save taxpayers the cost of having to send his drug test out for more testing.

Reiss said she would have to set a new change of plea hearing for at least 45 days later to ensure his system was clear.

“Don’t come high,” Reiss warned Lindsay.

During his arraignment last fall, Lindsay was warned by Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle to refrain from any new crimes and was specifically told that any illegal drug use, including marijuana, would be a violation of his conditions.

Lindsay remains free on a $50,000 unsecured bond with limited travel restrictions to Connecticut, New York and Vermont.

After the hearing ended Thursday, Lindsay said “Sorry,” bowed his head and shook hands with the lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana E. Hill.

Reiss set July 24 for the new change of plea hearing.

The head of the FBI in Vermont was among those sitting in on the short-circuited hearing on Thursday.

Vermont State Treasurer Michael S. Pieciak did not have anybody from his office attending.

Pieciak, who is running for his third term, can be found at this time of the year on television commercials urging Vermonters to check a state website to see if they have unclaimed money owed to them.

The Democrat from Winooski has been mum about the criminal fraud case since it broke last year.  Pieciak has not responded to multiple email, phone and text messages on behalf of the media, including from Vermont News First again on Thursday.

Beth Pearce was the State Treasurer at the time and Pieciak was her deputy.  It is unknown what, if any, safeguards have been implemented by the office to try to stop other fraudsters from unlawfully obtaining state funds.

The Lindsay case involves an elaborate joint investigation that crossed state lines.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Nolan in Burlington said in October there was an estimated 1,500 pages of discovery, bank records, witness statements, 10 recordings and a search warrant for the defense to review.

The public has not been told how Lindsay was able to get the State Treasurer’s office to give up the money that was intended for the former Essex Junction man, who is identified in court papers only as “J.W.”

The Essex Junction man never made a claim for the money held by the State Treasurer, nor authorized anybody to make a claim, the indictment said.  The man also did not know that Lindsay or that he himself had opened a business with the defendant, the indictment said.

The indictment seeks Lindsay to forfeit any proceeds from the fraud that may remain.

A federal grand jury in Burlington indicted Lindsay Sept. 18, 2025 and court records were ordered sealed until he was arrested Oct. 1, 2025 in Bridgeport, Conn., the FBI said.

A federal magistrate judge in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn. agreed to release Lindsay on a $50,000 unsecured bond with the understanding he would appear in Burlington for his arraignment later that month.

The Vermont State Treasurer’s office had kept the $467,067 safely from late 2021 through 2022, the indictment said.  The original source of the money was not identified in court papers.

The Vermont Unclaimed Property Division collects uncashed pay checks, unrefunded security deposits, stocks, mutual funds, items from safe deposit boxes, retirement accounts and other lost property deposited with the state.