For nearly three years, the FBI
had been running an undercover operation targeting contractors and Laborers'
officials. On the morning of Jan. 20, federal and state agents armed with search
warrants and cardboard boxes marched into the Arthur E. Coia Building at 226
South Main St., home to the New England Laborers' union. Before the raids, the
FBI had arrested a central figure in the investigation: Matthew L. Guglielmetti,
a notorious member of the New England Mafia and a member of the Laborers' union.
Journal stories about the Jan 20. FBI raids and arrests
04.24.2005
Working
with the mob, the union -- and the FBI
PROVIDENCE -- On the morning of Jan. 20, federal and state agents armed with search warrants and cardboard boxes marched into the Arthur E. Coia Building at 226 South Main St., home to the New England Laborers' union.
04.06.2005
FBI accuses 3 of guarding
cocaine stocks
PROVIDENCE - A Rhode Island man participated in
a drug ring that provided security for two large shipments of cocaine that were
to be distributed in the Northeast, the authorities allege.
03.31.2005
Mobster to plead guilty
in drug case
PROVIDENCE - A high-ranking mobster in the Patriarca
crime family has agreed to plead guilty to cocaine trafficking charges stemming
from his arrest in an FBI sting operation two months ago.
01.29.2005
Mobster, 2 associates
arraigned in cocaine plot
PROVIDENCE - Mobster Matthew L. Guglielmetti Jr.
and two associates who were indicted this week in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy
will not be getting out of jail any time soon.
01.21.2005
Mob figure arrested,
union office searched
State and federal agents arrested a capo regime
in the Patriarca crime family yesterday and also searched offices of the Laborers'
International Union in Providence and a Cranston concrete company that has employed
the mobster as well as the son of a top state judge.
Key dates
April 2002: Undercover FBI agents start a fake company in Johnston, Hemphill
Construction.
Summer or Fall 2003: Matty Guglielmetti, a silent partner in Hemphill, introduces
undercover FBI operative Mike Jameson of Hemphill to Lori DeRobbio at Capital
City Concrete.
October 2003: Detectives go to Kent County Courthouse parking garage; inform
Matty Guglielmetti that he has been caught on wiretaps in Massachusetts.
December 2003: Albert DeRobbio says that he attends a meeting with undercover
FBI operative Mike Jameson, another contractor and Arthur Coia, during which
Jameson asks Coia to serve as a consultant for Hemphill.
November 2004: Lori DeRobbio says that she talks to Arthur Coia about possibility
of seeking an investor. She says Coia then arranges for her to meet with his
client, Mike Jameson of Hemphill Construction.
December 2004: Lori DeRobbio meets with Mike Jameson to discuss having Hemphill
Construction invest in her company, Capital City Concrete.
Jan. 20, 2005: Authorities raid offices of the Laborers' union and Capital
City Concrete; arrest Matty Guglielmetti.
