Johnston man Henry A. Fellela Jr. has been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing identities and credit card fraud.

This was Fellela’s fourth federal conviction. He will report back to federal prison in September.

“It wasn’t great police work that got me arrested,” Fellela said Monday. “Watch out who you trust in life.”

He is the husband of state Rep. Deborah Fellela, D-Johnston.

In his latest criminal case, Fellela was sentenced Wednesday, Aug. 4, by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven, Conn., to 48 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.

“Number one; It’s not a violent crime,” Fellela said nearly a week after his most recent sentencing. “I was not involved in identity theft. That’s wrong.”

Fellela had been found guilty of credit card fraud and identity theft offenses, and violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction, according to a press release from Leonard C. Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Fellela, 63, has already served time on similar offenses.

He said he prefers federal prison to state institutions.

“Federal jails are way better,” he said.

Fellela had been free, previously released from federal prison in March 2018, following a 48-month sentence handed down by the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island for credit card fraud, aggravated identity theft and other offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut.

“The people in the community who know me know the kind of guy I am,” Fellela said. “People know me. I have a lot of friends in the community. I live in the house I was born in.”

Boyle confirmed the most recent case is Fellela’s fourth federal conviction.

“Between March 2018 and March 2019, while he was on federal supervised release, Fellela stole credit cards from residents of Connecticut and other states and used the cards to make approximately $48,000 in fraudulent purchases at various retail stores in Connecticut and elsewhere,” according to a press release from Boyle’s office. “On Nov. 5, 2019, Fellela pleaded guilty to one count of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Margaret Donovan and Sarala Nagala.

“Fellela was detained from March 8, 2019, to March 23, 2020, when he was released on bond,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s press release. “Judge Meyer ordered him to report to prison on Sept. 20, 2021.”

In 2014, Henry Fellela also pleaded guilty to several charges, including illegally collecting thousands in Social Security benefits.

Fellela Jr., then 56, entered a plea in federal court in 2014 on charges including aggravated identity theft, credit card fraud, Social Security fraud and theft of government funds.

Prosecutors said Fellela used a stolen credit card to buy thousands of dollars worth of electronics and clothing in 2007, and collected more than $58,000 in supplemental Social Security benefits from 2004 to 2012. Fellela claimed to have no fixed address while actually living with his wife and children in Johnston, according to a story in the Johnston Sun Rise archives.

“This is the fourth time,” Fellela said of his criminal history, referring to his fourth federal conviction. “I used to run dice games, craps games. I was always on the left side of the street. No extortion. No violence. No guns. No drugs. I’ve never smoked a marijuana cigarette in my life.”

Previously, for several years, Fellela owned TJ’s, a clothing store at 1 George Waterman Road in Johnston. He said he sold Jordache jeans.

Fellela issued a warning for others, repeatedly urging his fellow residents to “watch who you trust,” but would not explain further.

Fellela admitted his past convictions indicate he has fallen into a habitual criminal cycle.

“You get involved in something and it becomes a cycle,” Fellela said. “I should have gone to college. But you can’t look in the rearview mirror.”

Rep. Fellela has stood by her husband’s side in some court appearances. She has defended her spouse in the past, and insists her husband’s legal troubles do not impact her work in the General Assembly.

She has been repeatedly reelected despite her husband’s criminal history.

In 2013, she gave the following statement to the Johnston Sun Rise: “Everybody is their own person. I go to work every day and I go to the State House every day so I feel like I do what I’m supposed to do. Henry’s a good person. He’s a good family man, and people who know him know that he’s a good person. He wouldn’t refuse a friend a favor.”

Reached for comment Friday morning, Rep. Fellela said she “really had nothing to say at this point. I have no comment at this time.”

Her husband, however, said it doesn’t seem he has become a political liability for Rep. Fellela.

“It’s happened before,” Henry Fellela said. “It has nothing to do with her. You can’t ship blame from me to her. But I’m sure there’s a percentage of people who hold what I do against her.”

When asked if he had any ties to organized crime, Fellela answered with a question: “Would I tell you if I did?”