A pair of brothers, who are former cops, convicted of a bribery kickback scheme that netted them millions of dollars in Mass Save contracts have lost their appeal.

Christopher and Joseph Ponzo — ex-Stoneham police officers — defrauded a company to obtain tens of millions of dollars of Mass Save funds through paying bribes and kickbacks to company employees.

Mass Save is a state-mandated program that’s funded by surcharges on utility bills — supporting energy-conservation programs and initiatives in Massachusetts.

The Ponzo brothers pleaded guilty to felonies arising from the bribery kickback scheme, and a district judge sentenced both of them to 27 months in federal prison. The judge also ordered Christopher to forfeit $13.2 million, and Joseph to forfeit $3.6 million.

The brothers then appealed the sentences and forfeitures to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit — which has affirmed the punishments across the board.

“How the Ponzos became crooks and what they want from us is kind of a long story,” the appeals court wrote in its ruling.

The brothers paid tens of thousands of dollars in cash bribes, kickbacks, and other in-kind benefits — including a John Deere tractor, a computer, home bathroom fixtures and free electrical work — to a company’s employees in exchange for the employees’ help in getting the brothers millions of dollars in Mass Save contracts.

Christopher owned CAP Electric, Inc., a business specializing in energy-conservation work. In 2013, he began bribing people at CLEAResult, a firm that picked and oversaw contractors on Mass Save projects.

He later pulled Joseph into the scheme, with Christopher and CLEAResult employee Eric Darlington helping Joseph set up an air-sealing shell company called Air Tight Solutions, LLC as a Mass Save contractor.

Doing next to no work for the company and without telling CLEAResult, Joseph subcontracted the air-sealing projects to Chinasa Construction Services, Inc., and falsely claimed Chinasa employees were Air Tight employees. The Ponzos even created fake email addresses for the Chinasa staffers to make it look like they worked at Air Tight.

To cover his share of the payola, Joseph sent money from Air Tight to Christopher and CAP Electric and labeled it “subcontractor” business expenses. Christopher then bought off CLEAResult employees.

From 2013 to 2017, he gave Darlington $1,000 cash every week and bought him expensive things like an Apple MacBook, a John Deere tractor, bathroom fixtures, and outdoor lights.

And after CLEAResult fired Darlington in 2017, the brothers began bribing CLEAResult employee Peter Marra — sending him cash and gift cards for special favors like getting heads-ups on inspections and audits.

All told, CAP Electric took in about $36 million from CLEAResult, and Air Tight received about $7.4 million.

During the course of the bribery-kickback scheme, Joseph aided in the filing of false tax returns by claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in false business deductions.

To disguise personal expenses as business deductions, Joseph used his company credit card to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases at Home Depot, Lowes and Staples, claiming to his tax preparers that charges at those establishments were business-related.

In reality, he used the company credit card at those stores to purchase gift cards that he and his spouse then used to make thousands of dollars in personal expenditures.

“Life was good for the millionaire brothers,” the appeals court wrote. “But the government eventually caught on. And arrests, indictments, guilty pleas, sentencings, and forfeitures followed.”

More than four decades ago, Eliot Tatelman worked with his father at a New England furniture store. He likely never expected that, years later, a bold bet tied to the 2007 World Series run by the Boston Red Sox would land him on a championship float alongside the franchise’s biggest stars.

As the parade wound through Boston’s streets, some attendees held signs that said “Thanks for the free furniture,” a nod to the retailer’s promotion. 

Now, Tatelman’s Jordan’s Furniture is revisiting the idea with a similar promotion, betting on how far UConn’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will advance in this year’s NCAA Division I tournaments. 

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The retailer promised refunds totaling up to roughly $50 million if both Huskies teams reach — and then lose — their respective national title games. Eligible furniture must have been purchased from Jordan’s Furniture between Jan. 20 and March 1, according to the company’s website.

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Tatelman served as the furniture retailer’s CEO, but the family-run business’s day-to-day operations continue to be overseen by his children.

The UConn women’s team faces South Carolina Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Phoenix, while the men’s team meets Illinois Saturday in Indianapolis.

“We have insurance,” Tatelman told USA Today Sports. “We want them to win.”

There are two Jordan’s Furniture locations in Storrs, Connecticut.

Tatelman reflected on the Red Sox promotion, recalling the bold offer that helped define the campaign.

“We said, ‘Come into Jordan’s and buy a sofa, a bed, a mattress, a dining room table,’” he said. “And if the Red Sox win the World Series, it’ll all be free.’”

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The Red Sox’s four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series ended up costing the furniture company roughly $35 million. Tatelman said he “bought insurance for it.”

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