A mobbed up Shelton man who pleaded guilty to raping a woman should learn next week whether he will go to prison.
Dardian Celaj is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Milford Sept. 22 at 2 p.m.
Celaj pleaded guilty in April to a violent attack on a woman he worked with at the now closed Club Europa, a bleak social club that was at 142 – 144 Main St.
He was charged in March 2012 with first-degree sexual assault and third-degree assault.
He took the case to trial last spring, but, immediately after the victim took the stand and described a merciless attack, Celaj opted to end the trial and plead guilty to sexual assault.
He was supposed to be sentenced in August. But, while free on bail, he somehow shed himself of the court’s GPS tracking device, skipped his sentencing date, and was a fugitive from justice until U.S. Marshals tracked him down in Naugatuck.
Meanwhile, his lawyer filed paperwork seeking to vacate the plea because Celaj allegedly didn’t know he could be deported to his native Albania for his convictions in the U.S.
Celaj, according to statements made in open court and federal court documents, has ties to the Genovese crime family and to Albanian organized crime figures.
His attorney has indicated the mob angle is being played up by the media, and that Celaj believes the sexual encounter was consensual, despite the guilty plea for rape.
Celaj moves around, but court documents indicate his last known address was in Shelton.
