Months After Being Notified of Drug Use & Illicit Activities, Disciplinary Counsel Suspends Reilly
GoLocalProv News Team
Months After Being Notified of Drug Use & Illicit Activities, Disciplinary Counsel Suspends Reilly
The move comes months after her office was notified of drug use and illicit activities by Reilly, then an emerging star in the Republican Party.
He resigned this week from the Cranston City Council following his arrest on drug charges.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs GoLocal exclusively reported on Wednesday, court documents unveiled text messages in which Reilly told a client — who he was having a sexual and drug-use relationship with — that he was medicating his young daughters so that they would sleep and then he would leave home to go to the female client's home so that two could have sex and do drugs.
According to the texts in court documents secured by GoLocal, after “medicating” his daughters, Reilly left his home late in the evening and drove from Cranston to his client’s home three towns away to engage in sex and drug use.
The decision now this week by Travers -- months after she was first notified -- temporally suspends Reilly’s license until a full hearing is held next Tuesday and places Travers as a temporary special master.
On Thursday, the Court’s spokesperson had told GoLocal Reilly has 57 active cases.
Judge DiSegna and Travers' Actions in Question
According to multiple sources with direct knowledge, family court Judge Debra DiSegna had previously been provided information, including text messages and statements about Reilly’s sex with clients and drug use. that outlined Reilly’s unprofessional activities.
DiSegna, who has served in the family court since 2008 and was appointed by then-Governor Donald Carcieri, had the information since the summer of 2022.
According to court records, DiSegna had copies of those texts involving Reilly’s involvement with drugs and sex with clients and additional information about his behavior since the summer of 2022.
And according to those with firsthand knowledge, DiSegna was obligated by Supreme Court rules to notify the disciplinary counsel.
In a statement to GoLocal, Presiding Family Court Judge Michael Forte reaffirmed the court’s rules and said that he is now reviewing the situation.
"Under the Rules of Judicial Conduct, judges receiving information indicating a substantial likelihood of misconduct by a lawyer are required to take appropriate action. Appropriate action may include but is not limited to communicating directly with the lawyer or reporting the suspected violation to the appropriate authority," said Forte. "My supervisory authority as Chief Judge, requires me to assess what, if any, action by Family Court may be warranted in this matter."
READ THE ACTION BELOW
This story was first published 5/19/23 4:58 PM