PROVIDENCE -- Two CVS executives, John R. Kramer and Carlos Ortiz, pleaded innocent today in federal court to charges of bribery and conspiracy for hiring former state Sen. John A. Celona as a $1,000-a-month CVS consultant.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin ordered the two men released on $10,000 bond apiece and restricted their travel.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

CVS executive Carlos Ortiz leaves his arraignment.

Kramer, who also has a residence in Arizona, was allowed to travel there and within Rhode Island. Ortiz, who lives in Amherst, Mass., had his travel restricted to Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Today's court appearance was brief. Neither man had any additional comments.

Ortiz and Kramer were charged on Jan. 18, in a 23-count indictment of conspiracy, of fraud and bribery. They are accused of hiring Celona as a consultant from early 2000 to the fall of 2003, paying him a total of about $45,000 and also lavishing him with golf outings, trips to Florida and California and tickets to professional sporting events.

Although Celona was ostensibly paid to improve CVS' image among consumers, U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente charged that Kramer and Ortiz put Celona on the payroll "to advance the company's legislative agenda … through illicit payments to Senator Celona.''

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

CVS executive Jack Kramer arrives with his lawyer, Peter DiBiase, right.

In return, the indictment said, Celona used his political clout to kill controversial "pharmacy choice'' legislation that would have expanded the Rhode Island network of pharmacies that accepted Blue Cross reimbursements. CVS, which dominated the restricted network, opposed the bill so strongly that the company tied Kramer's and Ortiz's performance reviews to defeating the legislation.

Killing the legislation, Ortiz wrote in one review, had "helped to protect millions of dollars of sales.''

The indictment says that Celona also opposed the licensing of Canadian pharmacies in Rhode Island, pushed legislation to allow the electronic filing of prescriptions and promoted the creation of a state-backed loan program for pharmacy students.

Celona pleaded guilty in 2005 to selling his office to CVS, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Roger Williams Medical Center. He testified last fall in the corruption trial leading to the conviction of former Roger Williams executives Robert Urciuoli and Frances Driscoll.

Urciuoli and Driscoll are also set to be sentenced tomorrow.