PROVIDENCE — In the late ’90s, Sen. John A. Celona, D-North Providence, was hounding a state representative from Lincoln because he wanted his support on proposed legislation that would be favorable to Roger Williams Medical Center.

Past testimony from Rep. John D. Barr II, D-Lincoln, repeated in federal court yesterday revealed that Celona was aggressive in his pursuit of Barr’s endorsement of legislation involving the recruitment of donors for bone-marrow transplants.

“He spent some time hunting me down,” said Barr, in a transcript of the former legislator’s testimony.

At the time, Celona had been retained by Roger Williams as a paid consultant for The Village at Elmhurst, an assisted-living center in Providence that is affiliated with the medical center. And the hospital was, and still remains, the only one in the state performing bone-marrow transplants for cancer patients.

In an unusual move, FBI agent Jim Pitcavage was allowed to take the witness stand and read Barr’s prior testimony about his dealings with Celona about the bone-marrow legislation. It was not disclosed to the jury why Barr was unavailable, but The Journal published a story in July reporting that the former legislator, who is in his mid-40s, had emergency heart surgery.

The government’s corruption case against Robert A. Urciuoli, the medical center’s former president and chief executive officer; and Frances P. Driscoll, the ex-vice president of external affairs, appears to be nearing its end. The prosecution has finished introducing witnesses and the jurors are poised to listen to witnesses presented by lawyers for the former hospital administrators. It’s unclear whether the defense will call any witnesses to the stand.

The government contends that Urciuoli and Driscoll corruptly hired Celona so he could use his power to influence health-care legislation that would help the financially strapped hospital. Urciuoli, through his lawyers, has countered that the hiring of Celona was aboveboard and that an Ethics Commission ruling permitted him to work as a consultant for the hospital.

Celona, who testified in the first trial, has not been called as a witness, even though his name has been mentioned hundreds of times during the first seven days of testimony.

Barr had testified in the first trial in 2006 that resulted in the convictions of Urciuoli and Driscoll. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston overturned the verdict, saying that the presiding judge erred in his instructions to the jury.

The case was sent back to U.S. District Court, Providence, for a retrial that began last week.

Barr had said that Celona had bypassed the Senate leadership when he approached him directly about supporting the bone-marrow legislation. Celona told him that there were about 200,000 potential donors without health insurance that the bill would affect.

Barr said that the legislation died and they talked about reintroducing it in the next legislative session.

State police Cpl. Shari Russell testified that she was a detective assigned to the department’s Financial Crimes Unit when she began, on Dec. 31, 2003, investigating Celona’s ties to the medical center. She said that on Feb. 9 she conducted a phone interview with Driscoll, who had left the hospital three years earlier.

She asked her questions about Celona’s relationship with the medical center.

Driscoll “was uncertain what Mr. Celona did as a consultant for The Village,” at Elmhurst, she testified. Driscoll also told her that she had “minimal interaction” with the legislator.

Celona served as consultant for The Village at Elmhurst from 1998 to 2003. His weekly salary increased from $700 to $1,000, and he ended up making a total of $260,000.

That same day, she questioned Urciuoli in a conference room at the hospital. She said that she conducted the interview with state police Sgt. Brian Cassilli. Urciuoli had two lawyers with him: Kimberly O’Connell, the hospital’s chief legal counsel; and James R. McGuirk, a partner at Edwards & Angell, who served as the hospital’s outside counsel.

Russell testified that she asked Urciuoli about an allegation that Celona was involved in negotiations between Roger Williams and Blue Shield & Blue Cross of Rhode Island about some $3 million in reimbursements that the hospital sought.

“He said Senator Celona was never present at any meetings involving,” him and Ronald Battista, then president of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.

Previous testimony had indicated that Celona set up a meeting between Urciuoli and Battista in Celona’s office at the State House. On Tuesday, O’Connell, the hospital’s legal counsel, testified that Urciuoli had told her that Celona had arranged a meeting with him and Battista to discuss the health insurance reimbursements.

Battista also testified that Celona had arranged the meeting.

bmalinow@projo.com