CICILLINE

John M. Cicilline, a prominent Rhode Island defense lawyer who is under federal indictment in Boston, violated the terms of his bail last summer when he traveled to New Hampshire to defend an accused drug dealer.

As a result, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston has moved to revoke or amend the terms of Cicilline’s release. No date has been set for a hearing on the motion.

Cicilline is the older brother and former law partner of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline.

Cicilline, through court filings, acknowledged that he traveled to New Hampshire, but he claims he did not know that the trips were a violation of the conditions of his release.

On Jan. 4, 2007, a federal grand jury in Boston returned a four-count indictment against Cicilline, lawyer Joseph A. Bevilacqua Jr., Juan A. Giraldo and Lisa Torres on charges that they engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the government and corruptly obstruct justice by making false statements to a federal prosecutor.

The indictment alleges that the lawyers conspired with interpreters/paralegals Giraldo and Torres in a scheme to collect $150,000 from drug-dealer clients to manipulate the criminal justice system. They are accused of providing the authorities with information about other drug dealers, which, in turn, would be used to bargain for more-lenient sentences for their clients.

At the time of the indictment, Bevilacqua was less than two weeks from completing an 18-month federal prison sentence for leaking a confidential FBI videotape to a Rhode Island television reporter. That conviction led to Bevilacqua’s disbarment from practicing law.

Cicilline appeared in U.S. District Court on Jan. 5, 2007, to formally face the charges. He was released on $10,000 unsecured bond and his travel was limited to Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The terms of his bail also allowed him to travel to New York for court appearances, providing that it was approved by federal probation officials. Cicilline petitioned the court and was granted permission to travel to Florida to visit his mother and Las Vegas to attend a wedding.

Last summer, Cicilline’s life grew more complicated.

On June 6, a New Hampshire state trooper stopped a car on Route 95 and arrested two women on drug trafficking charges. The police said that the women, Yajaira Rosario and Jany Avila, were traveling from Warwick, R.I., to Niagara Falls, Canada.

They had flown to Rhode Island from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the police said.

Six days later, on June 12, Cicilline traveled to the Stratfford County House of Corrections in Dover, N.H., to meet with both women. The government filed a copy of the jail’s “Attorney Program Log List,” showing that Cicilline signed the document.

On June 14 and July 18, Cicilline returned to New Hampshire and made appearances on behalf of Rosario in courts in Portsmouth and Concord, N.H.

Between trips to New Hampshire, Cicilline’s own criminal case was grinding on in Boston. More than a dozen motions concerning discovery, dismissals and extensions of time were filed in June and July.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in New Hampshire contacted its counterpart in Boston about Cicilline’s travels. That office looked into it and concluded that Cicilline violated the terms of his bail because he did not seek permission from probation officials to practice law in New Hampshire.

On Nov. 9, Cicilline notified the federal court in New Hampshire that he would no longer defend Rosario.

Last month, Cicilline’s lawyer, Richard M. Egbert, of Boston, filed a motion opposing the government’s attempt to revoke or amend Cicilline’s bail. He charged that his client “erroneously believed” he did not need permission to travel to New Hampshire.

“Mr. Cicilline’s travel to New Hampshire was far from surreptitious. As the exhibits to the prosecution’s motion show, he signed his name to a log-in sheet to a Stafford County Department of Corrections facility and a waiver or probable cause hearing in Portsmouth District Court.”

A tentative trial date for Cicilline, Bevilacqua, Giraldo and Torres has been set for June 9 in U.S. District Court in Boston.

bmalinow@projo.com