IRONS

PROVIDENCE –– Two former Rhode Island lawmakers who did business with the CVS drugstore chain are in prison.

Yesterday, a third –– former Senate President William V. Irons –– learned that he won’t be following in the footsteps of John Celona and Gerard Martineau.

Irons, who had been under scrutiny for the past four years for his insurance business with CVS, received word from federal prosecutors that he is no longer a target of the wide-ranging State House influence-peddling probe known as Operation Dollar Bill.

His lawyer, John A. Tarantino, confirmed receiving a letter yesterday from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Providence, saying that Irons “was no longer the target of a federal grand-jury investigation.”

“My family and I are pleased that I am no longer a target,” said Irons. “It’s been a difficult four and a half years.”

U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente could not be reached for comment, though a spokesman did confirm the letter was sent.

The news comes as a setback to Operation Dollar Bill, which had targeted several lawmakers beyond those already convicted –– Celona and Martineau. It follows the acquittal last spring of two former top CVS executives on charges that they stole Celona’s honest services by hiring the senator as a $1,000-a-month consultant, using him to promote and kill legislation. (Two weeks ago, the government did win the conviction of former Roger Williams Medical Center president Robert A. Urciuoli for corruptly hiring Celona.)

It also affects the chief executive of CVS, Tom Ryan, a close friend of Irons’ who had given his blessing to Irons collecting insurance commissions on a Blue Cross insurance policy for CVS employees in Rhode Island. Ryan and Irons have traveled together with their wives, and Irons had flown on the CVS corporate jet with Ryan to golf at the exclusive Augusta National golf course in Georgia and to a 2003 World Series game in New York. They have also been frequent companions at University of Rhode Island basketball games in the Ryan Center, the campus arena named for the CVS chief executive.

And the news raises questions about the status of other investigations involving Irons’ successor, current Senate President Joseph Montalbano, and other lawmakers, including Sen. Stephen D. Alves, the Senate Finance chairman.

Irons, who opposed controversial pharmacy-choice legislation that CVS wanted killed, still faces a conflict-of-interest complaint from the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. He has challenged the commission’s authority in court, and a decision is pending.

An insurance salesman from East Providence, Irons served as a senator for two decades, rising to Senate president, before resigning on the eve of the 2004 legislative session.

The fiercely proud Irons had been drawn into a burgeoning scandal involving Celona, a close Senate ally, and Celona’s financial ties to CVS and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. That led to questions about whether Irons had also done business with the two companies.

Irons refused to answer, saying that he had an obligation to protect the privacy of his clients. Instead, he abruptly resigned on Dec. 31, 2003, unwilling to subject himself and the Senate to strife and controversy during the 2004 session.

The Providence Journal, which had initially reported on Celona’s financial dealings, subsequently disclosed that Irons had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions since 1997 on a Blue Cross policy covering CVS workers in Rhode Island. The former Blue Cross sales executive who negotiated the contract said that Irons had nothing to do with it, but that a superior at Blue Cross told him to pay the commission anyway.

At the time, Irons chaired a Senate committee that regulated health care, and voted on legislation of interest to CVS.

Tarantino said that Irons earned the commissions for servicing the policy after it took effect, and that there was nothing inappropriate in his conduct. In the pending ethics case, Tarantino has challenged the Ethics Commission’s authority to police Irons, arguing that a lawmaker enjoys legislative immunity from how he or she votes.

Lawyers for the Ethics Commission counter that that interpretation would cripple the state’s ability to crack down on legislators who misuse their office.

Over the past few years, federal investigators questioned the Blue Cross executive who had negotiated the policy, as well as past and present personnel at CVS. It was not clear what evidence prosecutors gathered, or what convinced them to drop the case.

Another avenue of investigation was revealed last year, when Martineau, the former House majority leader and a salesman, pleaded guilty to selling his office to Blue Cross and CVS in return for $900,000 in paper- and plastic-bag contracts. In his plea agreement, Martineau acknowledged that the government had developed evidence that he had favorably influenced legislation reducing the capital-gains tax at the behest of CVS.

Irons also championed the capital-gains tax cut, which Tom Ryan strongly advocated for. After Martineau’s plea agreement, CVS declined to say whether Ryan had discussed the matter with Irons or Martineau because it was part of the ongoing investigation.

Martineau is serving three years in prison. Celona, who pleaded guilty to selling his office to CVS, Blue Cross and Roger Williams Medical Center, is serving 2½ years.

Tarantino declined to discuss the behind-the-scenes evolution –– and disintegration –– of the case involving Irons. He said that he received the letter yesterday morning from the U.S. Attorney’s office, dated the previous day, Oct. 15.

“I wasn’t expecting to receive this in the mail today,” said Tarantino, who immediately called his client.

The letter was short but, from Irons’ perspective, sweet.

“I’m pleased that the U.S. Attorney’s office came to that conclusion –– I think it was the right one,” said Irons. “I respect the Justice Department and the work that they do. Now I want to move on with my life.”

Irons has already moved on. After leaving public life, he shifted his insurance office from rented space in the headquarters of the RDW Group, an advertising and public relations firm within sight of the State House, to East Greenwich.

He and his wife sold their house in the Rumford section of East Providence and moved to another house they had already owned in Narragansett.

A student of history and politics, Irons attended a speech at Roger Williams University last week by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

But he doesn’t see politics in his future.

“No, I had 20 years, and it was a wonderful experience, but now it’s time for other leaders to deal with the problems facing our state and our nation,” he said.

Instead, Irons said, he is enjoying his work and spending time with his family, including his three children and five grandchildren. He planned to celebrate last night with a family dinner.

He didn’t want to talk about the emotional ordeal of the past four years, or discuss the public perception of his insurance work for Blue Cross and CVS.

“Today I don’t want to go into that,” he said. “I’m enjoying the moment.”

mstanton@projo.com