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He was found not guilty by a jury earlier this week. Coyne was arrested in 2011 and had been awaiting trial for three years.
"He's obviously so gratified with the verdict," said his lawyer, Bridgeport based attorney John Gulash. "His goal is to move on with his life and find gainful employment. He has had the strong support of his family.”
Coyne was charged with molesting the daughter of his former wife, but the arrest came 2011. The alleged lone incident took place about five years before Coyne’s arrest.
Coyne was one of the rising young stars of Ganim’s administration and was part of a crew that helped gain state and national attention throughout the 1990s for the young Bridgeport mayor. Coyne was Ganim’s chief of staff and then later took over the Park City’s “Clean and Green” program, one of Ganim’s major triumphs.
The Clean and Green Program was designed to improve Bridgeport’s image and included tree plantings, street cleaning and improved trash pickup. Coyne attracted negative attention when asked by a local reporter why Clean and Green seemed to be focused only on the city’s wealthier neighborhoods and not poorer sections such as the Eat End and he responded that there was “no Clean and Green” in the East End.
He attracted even more negative attention when he was caught up in the Ganim racketeering scandals and served three months in prison for taking payoffs from asbestos contractors.
Coyne has since left Connecticut and now resides in Massachusetts.
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