Vincent A. Cianci Jr. Mayor
of Providence Cianci,
61, the longest-serving active mayor in the United States, is charged
with racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, mail fraud and witness tampering.
The allegations include:
--Awarding a $1.3 million School Department lease in return for bribes.
--Taking $250,000 in campaign contributions from members of the Providence
Towing Association.
--Attempting to extort a $10,000 bribe to sell city land to businessman
Antonio R. Freitas.
--Taking a $10,000 bribe from the estate of a buckle manufacturer to waive
$450,000 in back property taxes. --Taking a $5,000 bribe to hire Christopher
Ise as a city planner.
--Extorting a free lifetime membership in the exclusive University Club,
by holding up city permits.
--Tampering with a witness.
Richard
E. Autiello Member
of Providence Towing Association Autiello,
who runs Four A's Enterprises, is charged with conspiring with Cianci
and Corrente to collect about $250,000 in campaign contributions during
the 1990s from the Providence Towing Association, of which Autiello was
an officer. In return, towing companies received a place on the lucrative
police tow list. Autiello is also charged with conspiring with Frank Corrente
to collect a $5,000 bribe from a police recruit, Joseph Maggiacomo III,
to allow him into the Providence Police Training Academy. Since Autiello's
indictment last spring, Autiello's company has continued to hold a multi-million-dollar
contract servicing Providence police cars.
Frank
E. Corrente Former
city director of administration Corrente,
the mayor's longtime director of administration and chief fundraiser,
is charged with racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, bribery, mail fraud
and witness tampering. The indictment alleges that Corrente was involved
in bribery schemes involving city tow-truck operators, property tax breaks,
School Department leases and the hiring of a city police recruit. The
evidence includes videotapes made by Freitas that purport to show Corrente
accepting cash. Corrente is also charged with witness tampering for allegedly
trying to influence acting property director Alan Sepe's answers to FBI
questions concerning a school lease to Edward Voccola. Corrente retired
in the summer of 1999, shortly after Operation Plunder Dome became public.
Edward
Voccola Cranston
businessman
Voccola,
charged with racketeering, is accused of paying bribes to obtain a School
Department lease in a former auto-body garage that netted him more than
$1 million in the 1990s. He is also accused of money laundering, for allegedly
converting checks from his real-estate company, Jere Realty, into cash
for bribes. Voccola is a convicted felon with an extensive criminal record
including insurance fraud, stolen automobiles and assaults on insurance
investigators. His garage was a known mob haunt before he rented it to
the city. It was a federal insurance-fraud case in the 1990s that led
investigators to investigate his school leases and helped spawn Operation
Plunder Dome.
Richard
M. Egbert Cianci's
lead lawyer Egbert,
the Boston lawyer leading the defense of Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr.,
is considered by many to be one of the top criminal defense lawyers in
the Northeast. Over the years, Egbert has represented some of the state's
most prominent criminal defendants charged with violent and white-collar
crime, as well as public officials accused of ethics violations.
His clients have included the late, Chief Justice Joseph A. Bevilacqua;
former Gov. Edward D. DiPrete, who served a year in prison after plea-bargaining
on state corruption charges; the late North Providence Mayor Salvatore
Mancini, who was acquitted of federal corruption charges; gangsters Frank
"Bobo" Marrapese and mob enforcer Gerard T. Ouimette. A masterful cross-examiner
who instills fear in many he interrogates, Egbert backs down from no one.
He paces the courtroom and grills prosecution witnesses in a raspy voice
that often turns into a yell. "He's the guy you don't want to see represent
the guy you arrested," says retired state police Capt. Brian Andrews.
Edward
J. Romano Cianci's
associate counsel
Romano,
local counsel for Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., has worked with
Egbert on several high-profile cases. Their clients have included mobster
Frank L. "Bobo" Marrapese Jr.; Ralph N. Shippee Jr., a former state insurance
examiner; and now-deceased automobile dealer Jacob Kaplan. Romano, either
alone or with veteran defense lawyer John F. Cicilline, has also represented
various former city workers who were indicted in Cianci's first administration.
He also has represented the counselor of the Patriarca crime family, Ilario
M.A. Zannino.
Richard
C. Bicki Autiello's
lawyer
Bicki,
who is representing Richard E. Autiello, is a former federal prosecutor
who represented one of three men acquitted in a controversial sexual assault
case on Block Island. Another client, Richard Dvorak, pleaded guilty to
swindling the IRS out of $13 million. Bicki currently represents the wife
of slain Dr. Hani Zaki, whose murder is being investigated by a grand
jury. He also represents some of the plaintiffs who claim in court suits
that they were sexually abused as minors by Rhode Island priests.
William
J. Murphy Voccola's
lawyer
Murphy,
who represents Edward E. Voccola, is a Democratic state representative
from West Warwick and ally of House Speaker John B. Harwood. Murphy was
a co-sponsor of a failed attempt to cut half the time a felon must wait
to have his criminal record expunged. Last fall, his client Anthony W.
Ciccone, a one-time Wakefield altar boy, was found not guilty of murder.
In 1997, his client April McCoy, who claimed she was a battered woman,
was acquitted for the fatal stabbing of the father of her son. After former
Gov. Edward D. DiPrete went to prison, Murphy represented him in his bid
to get work-release and parole.
C.
Leonard O'Brien Corrente's
lawyer O'Brien,
the lawyer representing Cianci's former top aide, Frank E. Corrente, has
handled some of the toughest criminal cases that have made their way through
Rhode Island's courts -- first as an assistant public defender, now as
a private defense attorney. O'Brien has represented pedophile priests;
a priest who embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from his parish; big
borrowers from Rhode Island's failed RISDIC-insured credit unions; a principal
who admitted stealing Ritalin from his students; and a Warwick baby broker
who embezzled $87,804 from a dozen couples who never received the babies
she had promised to bring them from abroad.
Judge
Ernest C. Torres Chief
judge, U.S. District Court,
Providence Torres
has presided over the cases of former Pawtucket Mayor Brian J. Sarault
and members of his administration who were convicted of corruption charges.
He is the only federal judge in New England and one of just a handful
in the nation to sentence a criminal to life in prison without the possibility
of parole. That was the sentence he meted out to mobster Gerard T. Ouimette.
Torres also presided over the case of Stephen A. Saccoccia, who is now
serving a 660-year sentence for laundering Colombian drug profits.
A former Republican state legislator, Torres was a Superior Court judge
for five years before going to the federal court in 1988. Between the
two judgeships, he worked as assistant vice president in charge of national
staff counsel at Aetna Life Insurance Co. in Hartford. Torres has a reputation
for being a bright, no-nonsense judge who works long hours and expects
the same from others. One Christmas Eve, he kept lawyers working in court
until 5 p.m., and then remained working in his chambers until 9.
Richard
W. Rose Lead
prosecutor Rose
has won a conviction in the Plunder Dome trial of former Providence Deputy
Tax Assessor Rosemary Glancy, now deceased. Rose grew up fatherless in
South Providence, spent five years in an orphanage and later dropped out
of Central High School to join the Marines. He later earned degrees from
the Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and Northeastern
University School of Law. Last year, he was suspended for 30 days and
fined $500 by Judge Torres for showing two close friends and his sister
one of the FBI's secret Plunder Dome videotapes. Before going to work
for the U.S. Attorney's Office, he was one of the lawyers who represented
Dennis L. DiPrete, son of former Gov. Edward D. DiPrete, on state corruption
charges.
Terrence
P. Donnelly Assistant
U.S. attorney Donnelly
has successfully prosecuted members of the Almighty Latin King Nation
in Rhode Island's first case using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (RICO) against a street gang. He also handled the state
prosecutions of former Cranston Mayor Michael A. Traficante, who pleaded
guilty to charges of failing to report $115,000 in campaign contributions.
He also helped prosecute fugitive banker Joseph Mollicone Jr., who is
now serving 30 years in prison for embezzling millions from his RISDIC-insured
bank.
W.
Dennis Aiken FBI
investigator Aiken,
the FBI agent who spearheaded the investigation of corruption in Providence
City Hall, convinced businessman Antonio R. Freitas to go undercover in
1998. Aiken is an internationally-known expert on public corruption. Working
out of FBI headquarters during the 1980s and '90s, he formed policy for
and supervised public-corruption investigations throughout the country.
He also compiled the FBI Field Guide to Public Corruption. From Hong Kong
to Cancun, from Cairo to Kiev, Aiken has led FBI seminars that often focus
on public corruption -- particularly in law enforcement.
Anthony
E. Annarino Annarino,
a former city tax collector, was indicted in 1999 on charges of conspiracy,
attempted extortion and mail fraud. He was accused of conspiring with
Pannone to wipe out interest charges on late property tax payments. He
pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
David
C. Ead Ead,
who was vice chairman of the Board of Tax Assessment Review, pleaded guilty
to arranging bribes with a "high-ranking city of Providence executive"
whose identity remains secret. Ead, who has not been sentenced, has cooperated
with the authorities. He is expected to testify against Cianci.
Rosemary
Glancy Glancy,
who was deputy tax assessor for the city, was indicted in 1999 on charges
of attempted extortion, conspiracy and mail fraud. She was convicted at
trial and sentenced to 33 months in prison. She became gravely ill and
her prison sentence was commuted. She died in Massachusetts General Hospital
on Jan. 12, 2001.
Angelo
A. "Jerry" Mosca Jr. Mosca,
a Providence lawyer and former State House insider, pleaded guilty in
2000 in federal court to delivering two bribes totaling $25,000 to city
tax officials to obtain big tax reductions for his law office and a client.
Mosca, who has not been sentenced, is expected to testify in the Cianci
trial.
Joseph
A. Pannone Pannone,
former chairman of the Providence Board of Tax Assessment Review, was
indicted in 1999 on charges of laundering money to facilitate bribes for
property tax reductions. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to
five years in prison. Last year, Pannone was indicted again on corruption-related
charges. Again, he pleaded guilty to committing several crimes. He is
awaiting sentencing on those charges.
John
A. Scungio Scungio,
a Providence lawyer, pleaded guilty in 1999 to a charge of lying to FBI
agents about delivering a bribe to tax officials in exchange for tax reductions
for a client. He was sentenced to six months in prison and disbarred from
practicing law.
Antonio
R. Freitas Providence
businessman Freitas,
owner of JKL Engineering on Westminster Street, secretly recorded city
officials discussing corruption and taking bribes, evidence that has resulted
in the conviction of six people and the cooperation of others. He also
taped encounters with Frank Corrente, Cianci's top assistant, in which
Corrente allegedly accepted bribes. He was the star witness in the only
Plunder Dome trial to date, in which former deputy assessor Rosemary Glancy
was convicted.
David
C. Ead Former
vice chairman, Providence Board of Tax Assessment Review Ead,
the owner of Doris Vending, is an ex-Providence policeman, longtime city
Democrat and former vice chairman of the Providence tax board. In 2000,
Ead pleaded guilty to six counts of extortion and conspiracy and agreed
to cooperate with the government. He has alleged that he met with Cianci
to arrange bribes -- $5,000 for a city job for an old family friend, Christopher
Ise; $10,000 for a huge property tax break and $10,000 to steer the sale
of vacant city lots to Freitas. In return for his cooperation, the government
agreed to recommend a more lenient sentence and also to drop the money-laundering
charges, which could have resulted in the forfeiture of his vending business.
Steven
Antonson Providence
Building Board of Review As
a member of the Providence Building Board of Review, Antonson made the
motion to deny building permits to the University Club when Cianci was
allegedly threatening to close the club for denying him membership years
earlier. At the time, Antonson was chief electrician at the Providence
Civic Center. The indictment charges Cianci with two counts of witness
tampering for allegedly telling Antonson what to tell the FBI and the
grand jury investigating the University Club affair in August 1999, after
the matter had become public. Antonson is said to have tape-recorded at
least one of his conversations with the mayor.
Patricia
McLaughlin Cianci
aide McLaughlin
has been a key aide to Cianci, previously as deputy city solicitor and,
since last year, as the first woman administration director in city history.
The daughter of a former Providence fire chief, McLaughlin testified to
the grand jury regarding her role in fighting building permits for the
University Club. Cianci is accused of ordering McLaughlin to oppose the
club in retribution for denying him membership, then telling her to help
the club open after the mayor received a free honorary lifetime membership.
The indictment says that McLaughlin was present when the membership card
was presented to the mayor. Although a judge's gag order prevents Cianci
from discussing the case with her, McLaughlin continues to work closely
with the mayor on other matters.
4.21.2002
Witness list These
are the witnesses that the prosecution and defense have said they may call
in the Operation Plunder Dome trial.
