Digital Extra: The Station Fire

Boston lawyer Richard Egbert -- who has defended such Rhode Islanders as Vincent Cianci Jr. and Joseph A. Bevilacqua -- takes the case of Robert A. Urciuoli.

01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, March 22, 2006

BY MIKE STANTON
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- He has defended a former governor, two mayors, a Supreme Court chief justice and various mobsters. He currently represents one of the brothers who owned The Station nightclub that burned tragically three years ago.

Yesterday, Boston lawyer Richard M. Egbert was back in Rhode Island with a new high-profile client -- Robert A. Urciuoli, the indicted ex-president of Roger Williams Medical Center.

Egbert, who defended then-Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. against federal corruption charges, is regarded as one of the top criminal-defense lawyers in the Northeast.

Egbert entered his appearance in federal court on behalf of Urciuoli, who was charged in January with stealing the "honest services" of a state senator, John A. Celona.

He and other defense lawyers and federal prosecutors met privately with Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres to discuss the case.

Also present was the former U.S. Attorney in Boston, John Pappalardo, who has joined the defense team of codefendant Peter Sangermano, a former partner with Roger Williams in the Village at Elmhurst, a Providence assisted-living center.

Urciuoli, Sangermano and former hospital vice president Frances P. Driscoll were indicted Jan. 5 on charges that they hired Celona, a North Providence Democrat, to use his political muscle and clout to influence legislation and perform favors.

The hospital also was indicted, but subsequently reached a deferred-prosecution agreement and admitted criminal misconduct in Celona's hiring.

The others maintain their innocence, saying that Celona was hired to perform legitimate work recruiting senior citizens to the Village at Elmhurst.

Robert G. Flanders Jr., who has been Urciuoli's lawyer, said that his future with the case remains unclear, given his nomination Friday to the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

But Egbert, whose role was in the works weeks before Flanders' nomination, said that he has already been studying the case.

"I've spent a lot of time with [Urciuoli]," said Egbert, "and I have much faith and confidence in him."

Egbert, a tenacious cross-examiner, also figures to spend a lot of time getting to know about Celona, who has pleaded guilty to selling his office and will be the government's star witness.

The indictment cites numerous written communications between Celona and hospital officials regarding his efforts on Roger Williams' behalf -- regarding legislation, ambulance runs and health-insurance payments.

Flanders said that the earliest he would expect the case to go to trial is June, but that this fall is more realistic.

Torres said that he set deadlines for defense lawyers to file various motions, including motions to dismiss the charges. He also said that Sangermano's lawyers are considering filing a motion to seek a separate trial.

Lawyers have indicated a trial could take up to six weeks, said Torres.

Also present for yesterday's conference were Thomas Briody, Sangermano's Providence lawyer; Kevin J. Bristow, who represents Driscoll; and prosecutors Luis Matos and Dulce Donovan.

Yesterday afternoon, Egbert attended another pretrial conference in chambers, this one in Superior Court in Providence involving the Station nightclub fire that claimed 100 lives in West Warwick in 2003.

Egbert represents Michael Derderian, who, along with his brother and club co-owner Jeffrey Derderian, faces 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Station fire.

Egbert's past Rhode Island clients include former Chief Justice Joseph A. Bevilacqua, who faced 1980s impeachment hearings for consorting with mobsters; gangsters Frank "Bobo" Marrapese and Gerard Ouimette; former North Providence Mayor Sal Mancini and former Gov. Edward D. DiPrete, the only governor in state history to go to prison for taking bribes.

Cianci, Egbert's most prominent Rhode Island client, was convicted of racketeering conspiracy in 2002 by a jury that also acquitted the mayor of all the underlying charges. Cianci is scheduled to complete his 5-year, 4-month prison term next year.

mstanton@projo.com/ (401) 277-7724