And then there were three.
A federal judge threw out racketeering charges against Edward E. Voccola
yesterday, ruling that the government had not proven that he was part of
an alleged criminal enterprise at Providence City Hall.
But Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres ruled that there is
enough evidence for the jury to conclude that the three remaining
defendants -- Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., Frank E. Corrente and Richard
E. Autiello -- were partners in crime.
The judge also threw out some of the lesser charges against Cianci and
Corrente, most notably two counts of witness tampering against the mayor
for allegedly telling a city official, Steven Antonson, to lie to
federal investigators about the University Club.
Torres indicated that he would have allowed the witness-tampering
charges to go to the jury -- if not for a tactical mistake by the
prosecution in not clearing up some contradictory testimony from
Antonson.
Legal observers say that the judge's ruling was not a surprise, and that
the core of the government's case remains intact. However, it remains to
be seen whether Voccola's sudden exit from the trial, now in its seventh
week, has any impact on the jury.
Meanwhile, the dismissal of the witness-tampering charges could weaken
the government's case against Cianci on the University Club. The mayor
is charged with using his office to extort a free lifetime membership in
the private East Side club.
"There were wins and losses for both sides," said Daniel I. Small, a
former federal prosecutor in Boston who defended ex-Louisiana Gov. Edwin
Edwards on corruption charges. "The defense scored some important
victories, and it was a terribly embarrassing blow to the government.
"But you can win battles and still lose the war," he added. "The core
case remains as it's always been. As far as the mayor is concerned, it
still rises or falls on whether he is found to be part of a broader
conspiracy."
For a tearful Voccola, who found himself walking out of the courthouse
in the bright morning sunshine as the trial resumed without him, it was
a joyful moment.
"I'm just happy, very happy," he said. "I couldn't be any happier . . .
I wasn't guilty from the beginning, so this is the result."
Voccola had been charged with paying bribes and laundering money for
bribes to secure a $1.2-million lease from the Providence School
Department for his former auto-body shop at 400-406 West Fountain St.
Torres said that there was "plenty of evidence" that Voccola did make
payoffs and launder money to generate cash for bribes. That evidence
could still weigh against Cianci and Corrente, because the judge did not
throw out the racketeering charges that they received bribes from
Voccola.
But Voccola was not charged with those individual offenses, Torres noted
-- apparently because the statute of limitations had run out. Instead,
Voccola was charged with joining Cianci and the others in a broad
racketeering conspiracy, the purpose of which was to enrich themselves
and Cianci's campaign organization.
Cianci and Corrente still face charges that they extorted bribes from
Voccola. But Torres ruled that the government had not proven Voccola was
part of a conspiracy.
In fact, Torres said, Voccola's goals, in some respects, conflicted with
the alleged criminal enterprise's, since any bribes Voccola paid
"decreased his profit" from the school lease.
WHEN THE TRIAL began, Cianci and Corrente each faced charges of witness
tampering. Now, as a result of Torres's ruling yesterday, those charges
are gone.
Corrente was accused of trying to influence the city's acting property
director, Alan Sepe, regarding the FBI's investigation into Corrente's
role in the Voccola lease.
Sepe, testifying under an agreement that he would not be prosecuted,
admitted that he had lied to the FBI when he initially denied Corrente's
involvement in the lease.
"I didn't want to be a rat," he explained.
Sepe said that Corrente had told him in 1991 to help steer the lease to
Voccola. Later, when the lease became the subject of a federal
investigation, Sepe testified that Corrente made a motion with his hands
and told Sepe, "We never talked."
But on cross-examination by C. Leonard O'Brien, Corrente's lawyer, Sepe
said that Corrente's comments could have been construed to mean that
Corrente didn't want to discuss the matter with Sepe in light of the
investigation.
Given the "ambiguity of Mr. Corrente's words and gestures," Torres said,
the charge was "too tenuous" to go to the jury.
Torres then turned to the witness-tampering charges against Cianci
involving Antonson and the University Club. The issues here, Torres
said, were similar to the Sepe-Corrente tampering charge, though it was
"a closer question."
The problem, Torres said, was that Antonson testified one way when
questioned by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose and then
contradicted himself when cross-examined by Cianci's lawyer, Richard M.
Egbert -- leaving confusing testimony that Rose failed to clarify when
he had the chance on re-direct examination.
As a member of the city Building Board of Review, Antonson testified
that Cianci called him prior to a board meeting on July 30, 1998 and
told him to reject variances that the University Club needed to reopen
after a million-dollar renovation.
Other witnesses, including top Cianci aide Patricia McLaughlin and
former building inspector Ramzi Loqa, also testified that the mayor told
them prior to the meeting that he wanted the variances rejected.
Antonson testified that after Operation Plunder Dome became public in
1999, he saw the mayor on television, denying issuing any orders against
the University Club. Shortly thereafter, Antonson said that Cianci
approached him at the Providence Civic Center, where Antonson was chief
electrician, and told him not to tell anyone they had discussed the club.
Later, on Aug. 25 and 26, 1999, Antonson tape-recorded two phone
conversations with Cianci, at the behest of the FBI, during a period
when the mayor was aware that Antonson was being approached by the FBI
about the University Club.
On the tape, Torres said yesterday, Antonson "agreed with Mayor Cianci's
disclaimers that he had ever tried to influence his vote or his
testimony.
"Given the other evidence . . . and the tenor of the conversation, it
would have been very easy to accept an explanation that Mr. Antonson
played along," Torres said. "But Mr. Antonson was never asked to furnish
such an explanation, and he never did."
Instead, under cross-examination by Egbert, Antonson agreed with the
mayor's statements on tape that they had done nothing wrong.
"Though it appears that Mr. Antonson was confused [by Egbert], he wasn't
asked any questions on re-direct to clarify what he meant," Torres said.
As a result, the judge concluded, Antonson's testimony was too muddled
for the jury to convict Cianci on those charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly argued on Monday that
Antonson was not a sophisticated man, suggesting that he became confused
while being "hammered by Mr. Egbert."
Donnelly also pointed to several taped statements by Cianci that he
considered incriminating, including telling Antonson: "Whatever you do,
I had nothing to do with it. If I'm ever interviewed by the FBI, that's
what I'm going to tell them. I had nothing to do with it."
Cianci, Donnelly argued, also tells Antonson, "You're losing your balls
now" and "Don't volunteer anything. Don't be a volunteer for the United
States government."
Legal observers were mixed on how the dismissal of the witness-tampering
charges affects the remaining University Club extortion charges.
"Ultimately, if there's enough evidence of extortion, the witness
tampering is irrelevant," said Edward C. Roy Jr., president of the Rhode
Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "[Dismissal] doesn't
prevent the tapes from being considered regarding the mayor's overall
involvement."
Small, the Boston lawyer, said that it "definitely weakens" the
University Club charge, an important part of the government's case since
it contains the most direct evidence against the mayor.
"The defense has raised a variety of more neutral explanations for what
happened with the University Club," Small said. "It's harder to sustain
that if there's also witness tampering."
THE DAY began with high anticipation for supporters of another
defendant, Autiello.
Legal observers had predicted that Autiello, owner of Four A's
Enterprises, stood a good chance of having the racketeering charges
against him dropped, along with two bribery counts that he took $5,000
from the mother of a Providence police recruit.
Autiello's lawyer, Richard C. Bicki, had argued that since his client
was not a public official, the mere fact that he had taken $5,000 from
Mary Maggiacomo to help her son get into the Providence Police Academy
was not a crime.
But Torres, who seemed troubled by the suggestion that the $5,000 was a
lobbying fee of sorts, ruled otherwise. Instead, he threw out the
bribery charges against Autiello's friend and codefendant, Corrente.
"Certainly, one can infer that the money Mrs. Maggiacomo paid to Mr.
Autiello was eventually paid to some city official or Police Department
official," said Torres, who had noted on Monday that Autiello lacked the
authority by himself to get Maggiacomo into the Providence Police
Academy.
Torres cited Mrs. Maggiacomo's testimony that, after she sought
Autiello's help, he told her he would check into it, then reported back
that it would cost her $5,000.
However, Torres added, "the evidence is insufficient to infer that Mr.
Corrente was that public official" who received some or all of the bribe
money from Autiello.
There was no evidence, the judge said, that Corrente intervened on
Maggiacomo's behalf.
Bicki said at the end of the day that he would renew his motion for
acquittal today.
JUDGE TORRES also dismissed three counts against Cianci regarding the
mayor's alleged extortion of $250,000 from Providence tow-truck
operators to keep their coveted spots on the Police Department tow list.
That ruling was not considered as significant, however, because Torres
let stand the overarching racketeering charges accusing Cianci of the
same thing.
"It may be that Mayor Cianci will be held accountable if he's convicted
of the racketeering charges," Torres said. "But there's no evidence that
he was directly involved in the extortion of tow-truck operators."
To prove those individual charges, the government required direct
evidence of Cianci's personal involvement. But to link him to the
alleged extortion under the federal RICO statute, the burden shifts; the
prosecution has to show that one of Cianci's underlings, in this case
Corrente, acted on the mayor's behalf, with his knowledge.
At the end of the day, Egbert, Cianci's lawyer, argued for acquittal on
the racketeering charges involving the tow operators, in light of the
judge's decision. Torres invited him to file a legal memorandum today.
Meanwhile, Torres let stand those extortion charges against Corrente and
Autiello.
Corrente allegedly demanded $5,000 a year in campaign contributions from
the tow operators in 1991. Autiello, a tow operator and the treasurer of
the Providence Towing Association, allegedly helped round up the
donations from other towing contractors and also had knowledge of the
use of "straw contributions" to circumvent the legal donation limit of
$1,000 a year.
STANDING VICTORIOUSLY outside the courthouse with his lawyer, William J.
Murphy, Voccola seemed eager to put Operation Plunder Dome in his
rear-view mirror and to shed his federal ankle bracelet.
Ironically, it was Voccola's 1995 conviction for auto-insurance fraud
that helped lead to Operation Plunder Dome after Roger Cavaca, an
employee who was also convicted, started talking to the FBI. For a time,
Voccola continued to collect School Department rent checks while serving
a federal prison term.
"I'm relieved," he said. "We are pulling for all the defendants."
Voccola and his friend, Frank Gaglione, 89, who has attended the trial
every day, looked forward to celebrating with lobster at Spain in
Cranston, one of their favorite restaurants.
Several times throughout the long trial, Voccola dozed in his seat as
Murphy remained on the lookout for danger signs in a sprawling case
containing many aspects unconnected to Voccola.
"I was acting like an air-traffic controller," Murphy said. "There were
a lot of planes in the air. My job was to make sure none of them hit
Eddie."
Cianci shook Murphy's hand and joked, "We're going to miss you."
With staff reports from Tracy Breton. Mike Stanton can be reached at
mstanton@projo.com
