Oster

LINCOLN — Former Town Administrator Jonathan F. Oster was found dead at his law office yesterday morning in what investigators called an apparent suicide, less than a day after a jury declared him guilty of bribery and conspiracy.

Local and state police were handling the investigation and released few details. A maintenance man at the office complex at 1525 Old Louisquisset Pike, which is across an exit ramp off Route 146 south from the Lincoln state police barracks, said the former state senator and municipal chief executive had come to his second-floor office early, around 7 a.m.

The police said they were summoned to the office by a 911 call. They wouldn’t say who called or when, but by 11 a.m., police cars dotted the parking lot, their strobe lights flashing in the falling snow.

Oster’s body was found in a conference room, and though officials wouldn’t provide details, they said a gun was found in the room and that there was no evidence that anyone except Oster had used it. When police searched that same office after Oster’s 2002 arrest, they found and seized four guns, but state police said those weapons had not been returned to Oster.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

On Thursday afternoon, Oster, 56, was found guilty of two counts of bribery and two counts of conspiracy. The state said he was part of a scheme in 2001 and 2002 with ex-political ally and then-Planning Board member Robert R. Picerno to shake down potential buyers of a parcel of town-controlled land for $25,000 in bribes.

In a written statement yesterday, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, whose office had won the conviction, said, “This is a tragedy upon a tragedy and, obviously, a heartbreaking loss for Mr. Oster’s family and loved ones. I offer them our sincerest sympathies.”

Oster was scheduled to be sentenced on May 8 and faced up to 60 years in jail. His lawyer, C. Leonard O’Brien, had vowed an appeal of the conviction. Picerno pleaded no contest to seven bribery and conspiracy charges and received an eight-year sentence, with three to serve in jail.

Ironically, Oster’s death will accomplish the goal of that appeal. Because Oster died before it was resolved, under Rhode Island law, his conviction must be vacated, Lynch spokesman Michael J. Healey said.

Oster’s death stunned a town reeling from news of his guilty verdict. Oster’s wife, two daughters and close friends were in seclusion yesterday, and those who knew him politically or professionally sought to balance the controversy of the past few years with the rest of his life.

“Jon was a nice guy,” said local activist Derek Meiklejohn. “It’s just a sad day. … He was a good guy. Lincoln is mourning today.”

Town Administrator T. Joseph Almond said the town’s condolences went out to Oster’s family.

Dean L. Lees Jr., a former Town Council president who often butted heads with Oster during his administration, said, “This is probably the saddest day the town of Lincoln has ever faced. My heart and feelings go out to the family. What else can you say?”

Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena served in the state Senate with Oster and said he had relied on Oster’s legal acumen. He said Oster once helped him tweak the language of a bill that called for a five-year mandatory prison sentence for anyone who kills another person while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“If he saw a flaw in the bill, something that was a problem, he would always bring it to attention,” he said.

Oster was born in Lincoln, a son of the town’s first elected town administrator. In a 2000 interview, he recalled how in high school he tried out for lineman on the football team, only to break his heel when he went up against a player 100 pounds heavier.

“No one told me I should have been heavier for my position,” Oster said. “I thought I was doing fine. It’s often not size but intensity that matters in sports. And I was a very intense man.”

He served two terms in the state Senate, 1996-2000, and friends said his election as town administrator in 2000 was the culmination of a personal dream to serve in his father’s post.

By then he’d already put together a record of public service, serving as president of the Lincoln Rotary and on the Lincoln Land Trust. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in sociology and earned his law degree by going to night school at Suffolk University. Before starting his legal career, he had run a home for neglected, delinquent teenage boys, supervised a drug rehabilitation clinic and started an education program at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Thomas Borkowski, of Rehoboth, said Oster had handled his family and business legal affairs for years. He said he was stunned by Oster’s conviction and devastated by his death.

“There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to beat this because he was innocent,” Borkowski said.

“I was going to call him yesterday [Thursday],” he said, “and tell him, ‘Keep your chin up, don’t worry about it.’ ”

“Whatever is in the paper about him,” Borkowski said, “I hope it says a lot of people liked him and he was a good guy.”

— With reports from staff writers Mark Reynolds and Maria Armental

jhill@projo.com