Judge Orders Angelo Reyes Freed

Thanks to a real estate appraiser’s number-crunching — blasted as fishy by New Haven’s leading prosecutor — a judge agreed to spring developer Angelo Reyes from jail as he awaits trial in seven arson cases in state and federal courts.

Charlie Liberti (pictured), a West Haven-based appraiser, served as a star witness in Reyes’ defense Tuesday as the developer fought for his freedom in the face of mounting criminal charges. The results brought tears of relief to Reyes’ eyes.

It was the latest surprise turn in a saga that has seen many.

Reyes, a politically prominent community leader credited with rebuilding his life and helping to turn around Fair Haven after serving time in jail on drug-dealing charges, has been locked up since Feb. 23 on arson-conspiracy charges related to two suspicious fires from 2008 and 2009. The state charged him in a third fire in March and has tried to keep Reyes behind bars as the feds prosecute separate charges against him related to four other Fair Haven buildings he allegedly torched to make way for development plans.

After listening to Liberti’s testimony Tuesday at a bond hearing in state Superior Court, Judge Roland Fasano agreed to release Reyes, provided that he put up four properties for collateral to meet a $1.2 million bond.

(Update: Reyes was freed at midday Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Frank Antollino.)

Reyes has maintained his innocence of all charges, claiming another guy has been burning down the Fair Haven buildings. Click on the video to see what he had to say at the scene of one of the alleged arsons at a laundromat he owned.

The judge’s decision means Reyes could walk free as soon as Wednesday, after all the paperwork is filed.

The decision came over the objections of New Haven State’s Attorney Michael Dearington, who made a personal appearance in court Tuesday to object to the request for Reyes’ release.

Dearington charged that the numbers Liberti provided looked fishy because they were so far out of whack with city assessments. If Liberti overstated the value of the properties, Dearington argued, there wouldn’t be enough equity to satisfy the bond.

The hearing began at 3 p.m. in Courtroom 6A of the Church Street courthouse.

Reyes walked into the room wearing a large orange jumpsuit, black Converse sneakers and chains on his ankles and wrists. The prisoner, who has a wife and four kids in Fair Haven, appeared thin and grave. He looked solemnly at his wife and brother in the audience.

Then he watched as his lawyer, Frank Antollino, made the case for his freedom. Antollino did so by filing an application for a real estate bond for four Fair Haven properties owned by Reyes’ family and friends, who agreed to put them up for collateral. He argued that the properties are worth $1.3 million — an amount that would satisfy the court-set $1.2 million bond.

Attorney Murray Trachten, who has been helping Reyes with financial and real estate matters, put together the bond application for Reyes’ release. He told the court that Reyes’ brother Wilson ​“Porky” Reyes contacted Trachten about having Liberti do the appraisals. Trachten called Liberti.

“My only request was that he did this as quickly as possible,” Trachten said, ​“because someone’s freedom is at risk.”

Trachten oversaw four people who came forward to put their properties up for collateral: Reyes’ brother Wilson offered 305 Grand Ave., home of Porky’s Café; Reyes’ wife Irma offered a dental clinic at 262 Grand Ave.; Rafael Fuentes, Jr. offered up his auto repair shop at 75 Poplar; and Luis A. Rivera offered his own home at 124 Fillmore St.

Trachten said he outlined the risks for the property owners, underscoring the risk for Rivera.

“If Angelo Reyes does not show up in court,” he recalled telling Rivera, Rivera ​“runs the risk of losing the home he lives in.”

Based on Liberti’s appraisals, Trachten calculated the amount of equity in each home and tallied them to over $1.3 million.

“Big Discrepancy”

Liberti, who’s been appraising properties and brokering real estate deals since 1976, explained his numbers to the judge during examination from the defense. Liberti said he was hired for $4,000 to place a value on a number of Fair Haven properties for possible collateral.

He’s pictured at the top of the story doing some last-minute homework Monday, double-checking properties on Grand Avenue.

Liberti explained how he came to a value for 305 Grand Ave., a three-story building on the corner of Blatchley. The first floor holds Porky’s Café, a bar run by Porky Reyes. Two floors of apartments sit over the bar.

Liberti said he used an income analysis to arrive at a fair market value: $794,000 as of March 13, 2012.

After Liberti’s exposition, Dearington grilled him over his math.

Dearington asked Liberti how he valued the building at $794,000, when the city pegged the fair market value at $334,700 in its most recent appraisal. (Dearington arrived at the latter figure by taking the city assessment, which is 70 percent of fair market value, and extrapolating what 100 percent would be.)

The city’s value, Dearington noted, is ​“less than half of what you placed on the value. Is it typical to have the city undervalue the property” by more than 100 percent?

Liberti replied that his appraisal took into account renovations on the property. That’s a more detailed approach than cities typically take when they undergo mass revaluations, he said.

The city’s latest revaluations, performed by the private firm Vision Appraisal, were based in part on sales from Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2011, and in part on physical inspections. Appraisers looked inside buildings only if the property owners allowed them to.

Liberti said he didn’t have any info on Vision Appraisal’s inspection of Porky’s bar, but ​“the city may not have had the opportunity to go inside.” (After court, Wilson Reyes said Liberti was right — the city-hired appraisers never entered his bar.)

Dearington noticed a similar discrepancy with 75 Poplar St., an auto repair shop owned by Rafael Fuentes, Jr. 

Liberti testified that he came up with the value based on two comparable sales of auto garages.

Dearington noted that Liberti’s appraisal was more than double the city’s. Liberti judged the fair market value to be $492,000, while the city pegged the value at $201,200.

In response to questions from Dearington, Liberti replied that he received ​“no pressure either way” on how to assess the property. He didn’t know Angelo Reyes or his brother before he was hired for the job, he said.

Asked to explain the discrepancy between his and the city’s values, Liberti said they were done at different times. Liberti did his in March of 2012, after Reyes got locked up.

Liberti said he had no info on how the city came up with these particular assessments, but in general, the Superior Court does not use city assessments in foreclosure deals. Trachten earlier backed up that claim. He said even when the City of New Haven files for foreclosure, it relies on outside appraisers instead of city assessments.

Dearington didn’t go through the other two appraisals in court, but those followed the same pattern. Liberti valued the home at 124 Fillmore at $153,000, almost double city’s fair market value of $81,500. Liberti valued 262 Grand Ave. at $418,000 based on steady income from Grand Dental, which is in year two of a 10-year lease. (Reyes turned that property over to an LLC in his wife’s name in March 2011.) The city pegged the value at $306,600.

A ​“Political” Reval

At the witness box, Trachten testified that the city’s values have barely any relevance.

Taking the city assessment, which is 70 percent of fair market value, and drawing the value out to 100 percent, ​“in my opinion does not give you a fair market value,” Trachten testified. Trachten has practiced law in New Haven for 49 years, 10 of which he served on the city zoning board.

He said property revaluations are ​“a tax decision,” ​“a political and economic decision.”

“So you’re saying there’s no relationship” between the value of a home and its assessment? Dearington asked.

“The relationship is remote at best,” Trachten replied. He noted that some neighborhoods shot up in value in the latest revaluation, while others sank.

Dearington held out hope that Judge Fasano would see some merit in the ​“now much-maligned assessment value placed by the city” on the properties.

In final remarks to the judge, Dearington said he’s no expert in real estate appraisals, but he can see a ​“big discrepancy” between the values placed on the properties.

Different appraisers may come up with different values, he said, but the wide gap raises eyebrows: ​“I can’t imagine that the differential” would be that large.

Judge Fasano heard both sides and came down in favor of the defense. He said he was swayed by the witnesses, who had ample experience and expertise. Without any witnesses to explain the city’s assessments, he said, ​“frankly I have no basis to know exactly what goes into this city assessment.” So he went with Liberti’s word.

“I found him to be quite credible,” Fasano said of Liberti.

“Satisfied I’ve heard credible evidence,” Fasano said, ​“the state’s objection is overruled.”

Tears Of Relief

Angelo Reyes cried when he heard that. It meant he could walk free again.

The $1.2 million bond covers three cases. The first $1 million concerns Reyes’ alleged hiring of a hit man to firebomb a BMW parked on Quinnipiac Avenue and in 2008 to torch a property at 95 Downing St. Another $200,000 bond covers a third conflagration at 211 Lloyd St.

The federal government is also prosecuting Reyes in connection to four other fires, bringing the total to seven. Reyes is headed to trial in federal court in June.

He has been held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, Antollino said. He will likely be released Wednesday, after the paperwork is done, according to the lawyer.

“He has to spend another night in Walker,” Antollino said, then he can walk free.

Trachten said once Reyes is liberated, Reyes will be better able to talk with his attorneys, help with his defense, and ​“get back into running his businesses” in Fair Haven.