MARTINEAU

PROVIDENCE — The question of whether Gerard M. Martineau, the ex-House majority leader who pleaded guilty last fall to federal criminal charges, will cooperate in an ongoing probe into State House corruption was answered yesterday.

During an emotional sentencing before a packed courtroom in U.S. District Court, a federal prosecutor told the court that FBI agents have debriefed Martineau six times and that he has agreed to testify as a prosecution witness in the coming trials of two former CVS executives, John Kramer and Carlos Ortiz.

“I believe that Mr. Martineau is truly remorseful,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan. “He is cooperating and I believe that is an important factor.”

Martineau’s cooperation was not enough to spare him a lengthy prison term. Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi sentenced him to three years and one month in prison and ordered him to pay $100,000 in fines.

She also ordered him to serve two years of supervised probation after he completes his prison term.

Lisi left open the possibility that Martineau, a longtime state representative from Woonsocket, could appear before her for a sentence reduction, providing that he continues to cooperate and provide meaningful information to the federal authorities.

“The fact that Mr. Martineau has agreed to cooperate with the government is to be commended,” she said. “A possibility of a sentence reduction is out there.”

Martineau, 49, is the second public official, after former Sen. John A. Celona of North Providence, to be sentenced to prison on corruption charges stemming from the four-year probe of influence-peddling at the State House.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Dollar Bill, was launched after disclosures in The Providence Journal of Celona’s hidden ties to CVS, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Roger Williams Medical Center.

Subsequently, Celona pleaded guilty to corruption charges and began serving a 2½-year prison sentence last year. At his sentencing, a federal prosecutor said that Celona’s cooperation has helped a federal task force open 14 investigations involving seven politicians and seven companies.

Celona’s cooperation led to last year’s trial and conviction of former Roger Williams executives, Robert A. Urciouli and Frances P. Driscoll, and the indictments of Ortiz and Kramer, the former CVS executives.

The federal appeals court in Boston recently vacated Urciouli and Driscoll’s convictions, and Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced that his office would try the case a second time.

Martineau appeared before Lisi in November and pleaded guilty to two felony charges of depriving Rhode Islanders of the right to honest services — for $891,500 worth of paper- and plastic-bag contracts from the CVS drugstore chain and Blue Cross. In return, Martineau admitted, he used his position to influence health care and other legislation to the benefit of those two companies.

Martineau’s lawyer, William P. Devereaux, sought a lesser sentence than the 37 months that prosecutor Sullivan recommended. He argued that Martineau’s crimes were an “aberration” from an otherwise exemplary life as a public servant, parent and friend.

He characterized his client as “a good man who did a bad thing.”

Martineau dabbed tears from his eyes with a handkerchief.

Devereaux urged Lisi to impose a split sentence, meaning he would spend part of his sentence behind bars and the rest in home confinement with an electronic bracelet attached to his ankle.

Martineau, who was dressed in a charcoal suit and had more than two dozen family members and friends in the court-room, donned reading glasses and read a one-page statement expressing his “shame” for embarrassing his family and bringing dishonor to the General Assembly.

Several times Martineau stopped and sobbed in mid-sentence. More than once, his voice cracked and his words were barely audible.

“I can only hope in time that I can restore my reputation,” he said. “I remain mindful of the gravity of my actions and I need to accept responsibility.”

In the end, Lisi said she was moved by Martineau’s “sincere remorse,” and “many acts of kindness,” but that she felt compelled to mete a strong sentence to deter others in public service from breaking the law.

She said Martineau had “used his public office in a most perverse way.”

He was ordered to report to a yet-to-be determined federal prison on March 14.

Martineau was released on bail and was allowed to leave the courthouse. But, unlike most sentenced criminals released on bail, he was allowed to duck a group of reporters and photographers waiting outside. He slipped out through a tunnel that connects the building to the post office next door.

bmalinow@projo.com