Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres says the former aide to ex-Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. should be treated no differently than any other Plunder Dome defendant.

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, February 11, 2006

BY W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- A top aide to former Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. will have to live with the stigma of a criminal-arrest record.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres yesterday denied a motion that sought to have Artin H. Coloian's arrest, indictment and acquittal on an extortion charge permanently erased, or expunged, from the public record.

It was clear from the outset of the 25-minute hearing that Torres had no intention of issuing a ruling in Coloian's favor. Minutes into the hearing, Torres interrupted lawyer Steven D. DiLibero, who was making his case for Coloian.

"Should every defendant who has his case tried and acquitted have their record expunged?" Torres asked.

DiLibero said that each case should be examined independently. He said that Coloian's case was different because he "is a lawyer and member of the business community."

Coloian and DiLibero are law partners who share an office in the Shakespeare Building on Dorrance Street. Coloian also owns a restaurant, Side Bar & Grill, across the street.

"I don't understand why [Coloian's]case is so different," Torres said.

Coloian and Cianci were among 11 city offcials, businessman and lawyers charged with criminal offenses in Operation Plunder Dome, a federal investigation into City Hall corruption. The probe led to the convictions of nine people, including Cianci, who is serving a 64-month sentence in a federal prison in Fort Dix, N.J.

Coloian and Edward E. Voccola, a felon accused of paying bribes for a School Department lease, were the only two who were not convicted. Coloian was indicted and tried separately before Torres on a charge that he accepted a $5,000 bribe from David C. Ead, the former vice chairman of the city tax board, to give someone a job.

The jury did not believe Ead and acquitted Coloian.

Yesterday, DiLibero characterized Coloian's indictment as an "occupational hazard," and he said the government had spent 25 years trying to make a criminal case against Cianci and city officials who worked for him.

He said that Coloian was "unjustly charged with a violation of the law."

DiLibero went on to say that the indictment and acquittal has trailed Coloian for four years. He said that it is brought up each time Coloian applies for a bank loan or deals with a credit agency or insurance firm. And, each time, he said, Coloian must explain what happened.

DiLiberio also said that in many states, including Rhode Island, expungements are routinely issued for defendants charged and acquitted of crimes. Such is not the case in the federal courts. It is extremely rare for a federal judge in Rhode Island, or in any other district in the United States, to erase a defendant's criminal-arrest record.

Torres was not about to make Coloian an exception.

"Doesn't the fact that he was acquitted remove much of that stigma?" he said.

DiLibero said that Coloian is constantly asked about the criminal charge and "is still facing an ongoing prosecution."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly dismissed DiLibero's argument. He pointed out that a federal grand jury spent several months gathering evidence and listening to witnesses before it handed up the indictment against Coloian. He said that he got a fair trial before a jury of his peers that rendered a not-guilty verdict.

"God bless him," he said.

Nonetheless, Donnelly seemed exasperated that Coloian was seeking to erase his past history with the court. And if the court granted the request, he wondered what would happen. Would every reference to Coloian in the Plunder Dome investigation have to be redacted? Would any record of Coloian's indictment and acquittal disappear?

Donnelly said that the court did not do anything unjust. Instead, he said, Coloian's problems lie with the publicity the case generated and "how this has played out over time."

Torres sided with Donnelly.

In his closing remarks, Torres said that expungement should be reserved for "extreme circumstances," such as an invalid conviction or an unconstitutional arrest. He said there was nothing unjust about the criminal case brought against Coloian, and therefore, the criminal record should remain.

Afterward, outside the courthouse, Coloian said he was "obviously, disappointed," in the ruling, and that he may appeal the ruling to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

In a related Plunder Dome development, Richard E. Autiello, a key player in the corruption investigation, became a free man yesterday.

Federal officials confirmed yesterday that Autiello, 67, finished his prison sentence of 3 years and 10 months. He is free to live at his home, at 88 Cathedral Ave., Providence, without a monitoring bracelet clamped to his ankle.

On Oct. 11, 2002, Torres sentenced Autiello to prison for his role in Cianci's criminal enterprise. A jury convicted him of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of bribery conspiracy.

Autiello, a short, jovial man widely know as "Uncle Dickie," had a lucrative city contract to maintain the fleet of Providence police vehicles at Four A's, a family business on the city's West Side.

Barry Weiner, chief federal probation officer in Providence, said Autiello must serve 24 months of supervised parole and perform 75 hours of community service.

bmalinow@projo.com / (401) 277-7019