Ex-ACI officers Kenneth Viveiros, left, and Gualter Botasare sentenced

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE — The hammer came down yesterday on two former corrections officers convicted of assaulting four inmates in the Adult Correctional Institutions minimum-security prison after they were accused of smuggling contraband into the prison.

Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini, saying that the officers had “more than a momentary lapse in judgment,” sentenced ex-Capt. Gualter Botas and ex-Lt. Kenneth Viveiros to three years in the same prison where they were found guilty of abusing the inmates.

Procaccini quoted Earl Warren, the late U.S. Supreme Court chief justice, “The police must obey the law while enforcing it.”

Procaccini ordered Botas, 39, of Pawtucket, to serve 18 months of the sentence in prison, with the remaining 18 months suspended, while Viveiros, 56, of North Providence, was ordered to spend 9 months in prison with the remaining 24 months suspended. Neither Botas nor Viveiros expressed any emotion as the sentences were imposed.

But they will not be reporting to prison anytime soon. Procaccini, despite an objection from the prosecutor, released the former officers on bail pending the appeals of their convictions to the state Supreme Court. The appeals process could take several years.

The sentencing took place in a tense third-floor courtroom that was packed with family, friends and off-duty corrections officers. Two of the ex-inmates, who were subjected to the physical and emotional abuse, were allowed to sit with members of the news media in the empty jury box. They had come as crime victims to address the court. A marshal told them to remain in the box after the court adjourned to avoid any possible confrontations with the officers or their families.

Molly K. Cote, the special assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case, provided the court with a fiery argument about why the ranking ex-officers should spend a long time in prison. She said that they had violated the laws of the state as well as the oath they swore to uphold when they went to work in the prison.

Cote referred to the abuse of inmates Matthew Gumkowski, Robert Houghton, Anthony Romano and Jose Gonzalez in 2005 and 2006 as “humiliating and sadistic torture sessions.”

During the four-week trial in July, the inmates, all of whom have since been released from prison, took the witness stand and testified that Botas summoned them to his office and administered beatings over suspected contraband. The way the beatings were meted out varied, although Houghton, Romano and Gonzalez alleged that Botas repeatedly struck each of them with a phonebook.

Botas was convicted of seven counts of misdemeanor assault on the four inmates, while Viveiros was convicted with four counts of assault on Houghton, Romano and Gonzalez.

Aside from the assaults, Houghton, Romano and Gonzalez testified that the officers seemed to enjoy taunting them and subjecting them to strip searches. Gonzalez told the court that they made him bend over and Botas threatened to sodomize him. He also said that Botas grabbed his testicles and “pulled down real hard.”

Houghton testified that Botas joked about him being sexually molested as a child.

Yesterday, Cote referred to a quotation that her boss, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, has on a plaque near the entrance to his office on South Main Street.

“With great power comes great responsibility,” she said. “Both these defendants didn’t do that. They abused their power and shirked their responsibilities. We do not tolerate cruel and unusual punishment in our prisons.”

Cote asked for a heavy sentence: seven years for Botas and four years for Viveiros.

Cote was followed by Romano and Gonzalez, the two former inmates who testified at trial.

Romano, who testified that Viveiros broke a clipboard over his head, paused and choked up at the lectern. He talked about the “mental and physical abuse” that Botas and Viveiros inflicted after a slip of paper with a telephone number was found in his shirt pocket.

“I never felt so violated in my entire life,” he said, adding that he thinks about the harrowing experience “every day, every night.”

Gonzalez, in a soft voice, told the court that Botas had told him that he had the power to prevent him from seeing his young son, who was suffering from cancer.

Cote said that Houghton also wanted to address the court, but he was “too scared to appear.”

Olin W. Thompson III, Viveiros’ lawyer; and John Lynch Jr., Botas’ lawyer, sought suspended sentences and/or probation for their clients. They emphasized that both men had long and sterling careers as corrections officers, Viveiros, 26 years; Botas, 17 years. In fact, Lynch noted that Botas had been nominated in February 2006 for “Supervisor of the Year.”

Lynch also questioned the seriousness of the inmates’ injuries. That prompted Procaccini to interrupt and ask him about the “emotional suffering,” that they endured. He also said that there was no evidence that Houghton, Romano or Gonzalez acted aggressively or with disrespect toward the officers.

“These assaults were bold and abusive acts without cause of justification,” Procaccini said.

Procaccini granted the request from the defense lawyers to release Botas and Viveiros on personal recognizance bail pending the outcome of their appeals. Prosecutor Cote wanted them to begin serving the sentences immediately.

bmalinow@projo.com