PROVIDENCE — A defense lawyer tried to establish yesterday that ex-Sen. John A. Celona, the government’s star witness in the CVS corruption trial, earned his $1,000-a-month consulting fee from the drugstore giant through tirelessly promoting every facet of the Woonsocket-based company.

During nearly four hours of cross-examination, Scott D. Corrigan presented an endless amount of grand jury testimony, e-mails and transcripts from Celona’s cable television program that showed him gushing about CVS, its charitable efforts and his admiration for Tom Ryan, the company’s chief executive officer.

John R. “Jack” Kramer, then a senior vice president at CVS, appeared on Celona’s show, The State House Report, eight times between 2000 and 2003. Beginning in 2000, Celona was a state senator from North Providence and a paid consultant for CVS.

At times, it was hard to tell the host from the promoter on the cable show.

A regular topic was the CVS Charity Golf Classic at Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington. They talked about the event, the professional golfers attending and Celona even promoted ticket sales on the air.

“It’s a fabulous Rhode Island event,” Celona told his viewers. “And for three days of golf, for $100, I think that’s a great bargain in my opinion.”

On another broadcast, Celona called Ryan, “a perfect individual.”

Celona spent his third straight day on the witness stand in the bribery, fraud and conspiracy trials of Kramer, 75, and Carlos R. Ortiz, 64, another CVS executive. They are accused of hiring Celona in early 2000 to help promote CVS’ legislative agenda at the Rhode Island State House.

Two days ago, Celona testified that the consulting agreement was, for all intents and purposes, a front for a do-nothing job. He said that no one at CVS asked him to promote the company or speak to senior citizens who are reliant on prescription drugs.

Celona said that he decided to tout the company because he felt guilty doing “nothing” to collect the monthly consulting fee. “I tried to do something to justify my work,” he said.

Corrigan, one of Kramer’s lawyers, also introduced evidence that Celona handed out $20 CVS gift cards as door prizes at a health fair for retired Teamsters in 2001. Ortiz sent five cards — worth a total of $100 — to Celona.

Corrigan also produced documents suggesting that Celona, during his tenure as a consultant, supported legislation that was not always in the best interest of CVS. He pointed out that Celona voted for a bill in 2000 that increased the minimum wage from $4.75 to $5.15. CVS lobbied against the bill. Also, Celona supported a resolution that called for the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

CVS was against that proposal, too.

Testimony also surfaced yesterday that Celona not only sold out his public office — he tried to sell out his allegiance to New England sports, too.

According to evidence introduced in court, Celona, who once proudly flew a New England Patriots flag outside his house in North Providence, and once tried, as a senator, to get the Patriots to build a football stadium in Providence, sought work from the New York Jets.

In the final minutes of court, Corrigan showed jurors a letter that Celona wrote in 1997 when he was seeking work following the failure of his family’s lawnmower repair shop.

The letter was to Bill Parcells, who had just bolted as coach of the Patriots after they lost to the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl.

On March 10, 1997, Celona wrote to Parcells “c/o Giants Stadium — The Meadowlands East Rutherford, New Jersey.” He touted his newly formed business in North Providence, “The Image Group.”

“With perception so important, we at THE IMAGE GROUP can train you and your team to manage the news and the media in a way that is positive and beneficial to you and the Jets.”

Moments later, Celona sparred with Corrigan over how many times he had met with FBI agents. Celona paraphrased current Patriots coach Bill Belichick, a one-time Parcells disciple, “If that’s what it is, that’s what it is, then that’s what it is.”

Celona testified that The Image Group was something that “never got off the ground.” Nor, he said, did he use that corporate name when he discussed consulting work with CVS a few years later. Corrigan was apparently trying to drive home the fact that Celona was trying to hustle consulting clients after the failure of the lawnmower business.

Celona’s love of sports came through in the transcript of one show, in which he said CVS CEO Ryan’s one fault was that “he’s a Yankee fan.”

Celona, who is serving a 2½-year prison sentence for selling his office to CVS, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Roger Williams Medical Center, returns to the stand this morning. He may spend the rest of the week facing cross-examination by Corrigan and a lawyer defending Ortiz.

So far, only Corrigan has cross-examined him. The Witness

JOHN A. CELONA, the former North Providence senator who has pleaded guilty to selling his office to CVS, spent his third day on the stand, being cross-examined about his duties for CVS. Celona acknowledged visiting senior centers and touting CVS during appearances by defendant John R. “Jack” Kramer on his cable-access television show. But he sparred with Kramer’s lawyer over conflicting accounts he has given about various events, and about whether he earned his $1,000-a-month consulting fee through legitimate services as opposed to political favors.

bmalinow@projo.com