Mayor admits to cocaine use in office

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Mayor John M. Fabrizi admitted yesterday he had abused cocaine while in office and said he wanted to apologize ``to all the people of the city" but had no plans to resign.

The admission followed the inadvertent release of an FBI document in which an alleged drug dealer asserted that an associate had a videotape of the mayor using cocaine.

In a tearful speech to about 200 city employees and residents in City Council chambers yesterday, Fabrizi said he had not used drugs in 18 months and had sought help for a drug addiction that he had hoped to handle privately.

``I thought that these were personal, private matters to me and my family, that I could deal with these issues with my family and myself," Fabrizi said. ``I now recognize my actions affected many others, and I want to apologize to my family, my friends, and all of the people of the city of Bridgeport for my actions, my past actions."

Fabrizi, a Democrat who took office after Mayor Joseph Ganim was convicted of corruption in 2003, said he hopes to move forward and continue running Connecticut's largest city.

Cecil Young, a city sheriff who listened to Fabrizi's address Tuesday, said the mayor had misled voters for nearly two years and should resign.

``He needs help," Young said, adding that he wants proof that Fabrizi sought treatment from a licensed professional. ``If I was busted for something like that, I would lose my job."