Federal Hill’s Toscan Social Club: A Hub for Crime and State House Insiders, According to RISP
GoLocalProv News Team
Federal Hill’s Toscan Social Club: A Hub for Crime and State House Insiders, According to RISP
GoLocal has secured hundreds of pages of Rhode Island State Police surveillance records. The monitoring was focused on Dino Guilmette — those records tracked the comings and goings at a range of locations, including one of the old-time social clubs on Federal Hill in Providence — the Toscan Social Club.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs previously reported, the surveillance efforts by the State Police include court-authorized wiretaps.
The social club has been a site of illegal gambling and, in the case of Guilmette — tied to illegal drugs.
State Police surveillance also unveils the comings and goings of some of the top players at the Rhode Island State House.
“Community Service for Children in the Neighborhood”
The Toscan Social Club, a private club, was incorporated in 1992 with the purpose of “Social Club — community service for children in the neighborhood.”
And while the social club was supposed to serve neighborhood kids, it has been a known organized crime meeting place, according to multiple State Police sources. The Toscan Social Club is off limits for law enforcement to socialize.
In 2015, Edward Perrotta, his son John, and Gregory Fleury were arrested for their roles in running an illegal gambling operation at the Toscan. Rhode Island State Police, Providence Police and the FBI executed three search warrants following what they said was a three-month investigation, initiated by the RISP Intelligence Unit.
In June of this year, the Rhode Island Secretary of State's office revoked the Toscan Social Club's certificate of incorporation. That letter was sent to "Gregory Fleury."
The State Police tracked Guilmette for weeks. On Halloween of 2021, the State Police tracked Guilmette to the Toscan Social Club. And then others arrived.
According to the State Police Investigative Unit’s Surveillance report for Sunday, October 31, 2021, “At approximately 1:30 PM, Detective [Amoncio] DaCruz observed Rhode Island Passenger Registration REDACTED open a black Cadillac arrive and park behind Guilmette’s vehicle was found to be registered to Grant Pilkington. Members of the Intelligence Unit are aware that Pilkington was Deputy Chief of Staff to former Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello.”
“Photographs were obtained of Pilkington entering the Toscan Club,” stated the surveillance report.
In 2019, GoLocal first reported that Pilkington, as a top staffer to Mattiello, was an officer in a Rhode Island hemp company along with two top State House lobbyists — Matt Jerzyk and Will Farrell. The ownership came to light after two other members of the company were arrested in Ohio by the State Police. Today, Pilkington works as a Managing Director of the lobbying and communications firm Advocacy Solutions.
“Pilkington's ownership stake in American Standard Hemp raises numerous red flags. In June [2019] the House of Representatives passed significant changes to the Hemp Growth Act as part of the state budget,” said John Marion, Executive Director of Common Cause.
"If Mr. Pilkington was involved in any way with that legislation, it could very well represent a conflict of interest given his ownership stake. It raises greater suspicions because the House inserted language in this year's budget that allows the General Assembly to veto any regulations issued by the Department of Business Regulations with regard to the Hemp Growth Act,” said Marion in 2019.
His bio at the firm states, "Prior to joining Advocacy Solutions, Grant worked in key advisory roles to past and present Rhode Island Speakers of the House [Mattiello and Joseph Shekarchi]. As Deputy Chief of Staff, he fostered intergovernmental relationships with both chambers and the executive branch while supporting constituent issues on behalf of the Speaker’s office. Grant’s state experience also included clerking several committees and commissions."
The State Police surveillance report also stated, “Arriving after Pilkington was a white BMW Passenger Registration REDACTED. This vehicle was found to be registered to Frank Montanaro. Montanaro has most recently been identified as the Executive Director for Maintenance at the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority. Previous to this, Montanaro was executive director of the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (JCLS) under former Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello.”
In May of 2021, GoLocal reported that Montanaro had been hired at RIPTA as the Executive Director of Facilities and Maintenance. His salary is $113,100.97.
Under Mattiello, he earned $167,948.56 according to state records as the head of JCLS.
Montanaro was involved in a number of high-profile controversies in his role on Mattiello’s team.
One controversy centered around Montanaro receiving $50,000 in free tuition at a state college.
After much outrage and a State Police investigation, he later agreed to pay portions of those funds back and notified Rhode Island College of his plans to repay $41,083 of the nearly $50,000 in free tuition he received.
In 2019, Montanaro was involved in the controversy between Mattiello and the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority. In his role as chair of the JCLS, he pressed for an audit of the Authority after the organization disciplined a close political ally of Mattiello.
Montanaro served in the RI House of Representatives.
State Police cite Pilkington in other surveillance reports.
Neither Montanaro nor Pilkington responded to requests for comments on the RISP surveillance.
Dino Guilmette — Now Facing Seven Felonies — Is Vice President of the Toscan Social Club
The criminal information — signed by Assistant Attorney General Joseph McBurney and officially submitted to Providence Superior Court on July 18, 2022 — names Guilmette in ten counts stemming from an alleged offense date of November 10, 2021.
Two of the counts ultimately were not charged; one of the remaining counts was a misdemeanor, and the other seven were felonies.
The felony charges allege that Guilmette unlawfully delivered a controlled substance — Lorazepam — in violation of state law; that he conspired to violate the state’s Uniformed Controlled Substances Act by agreeing to deliver a controlled substance (Lorazepam); that he “did knowingly make a false material declaration” to Rent Relief RI in violation of state law; that he conspired to commit an unlawful act in violation of state law; that obtained money over $1,500 from Rent Relief RI by false pretenses; that he conspired to obtain the money under false pretenses; and that he conspired to give false documentation to an agent of Rent Relief RI in violation of state law.
According to court documents, a pre-arraignment conference is scheduled for October 2022, and a pre-trial conference is scheduled for January 2023.
In 2021, the last year of filings to the Division of Services of the Secretary of State's office listed Guilmette as the vice resident of the Toscan Social Club.
The RISP surveillance continued.