NEW: Former Central Falls Mayor Moreau Pleads Guilty to Bribe

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Friday, February 28, 2014

GoLocalProv News Team

The former mayor of Central Falls, Charles Moreau, was sentenced in federal court Friday morning after pleading guilty to soliciting and accepting a bribe from longtime friend, businessman, and political supporter, Michael G. Bouthillette.

Moreau was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John Connell Jr. finish out his previous sentencing of 24 months in federal prison which totals nearly 12 months and will be followed by three years of supervised release, as well as 300 hours of community service to the City of Central Falls, and a fine of $25,000. This sentencing occurred after Moreau admitted to participation in a corruption scheme between 2007 and 2009, in which the former mayor accepted goods and services from Bouthillette in exchange for directing and providing board-up work on more than 160 properties throughout Central Falls.

Moreau’s previous conviction and sentencing in 2012 for accepting gratuities from Bouthillette was vacated by the court today because of a defense motion citing a recent First Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. The ruling comes from an unrelated case that found a statute that Moreau’s guilty plea to violating is not applicable to gratuities.

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The guilty plea and sentencing was announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police

Investigation

Moreau’s guilty plea involves his admittance to the court that beginning in Spetember of 2007 he ordered Michael Bouthillette, his longtime friend and political supporter, to board-up all vacated homes in Central Falls. Moreau also admitted to circumventing a State requirement that would require competitive bidding on the boarding up of the houses, saying that each vacant home presented an “emergency” thereby requiring an immediate board-up.

The United States Attorney’s Office, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, as well as the Rhode Island State Police, investigated the corruption scheme, finding that from September 2007 to July 2009, Bouthillette had boarded up at least 167 homes. An invoice was submitted to the City of Central Falls for each board-up and a lien was placed on the subject property for the amount of the invoice. As these foreclosed poperties were sold, liens were discharged and Central Falls would pay Bouthillette, allowing for him to make profits amounting to hundres of thousands of dollars.

Bouthillette Sentencing

Bouthillette, who pleaded guilty in November 2012, admitted to the court that the former mayor gave him things of value on three occasions for a reward of providing the board-up work. Bouthillette admitted that in March 2009, he assisted Moreau in obtaining a furnace for Moreau’s Central Falls residence for which Bouthillette admitted that he contributed at least a portion of the purchase price. Bouthillette also admitted that from March to November of 2009, he provided numerous renovations and repairs to a Lincoln residence owned by Moreau which Moreau never paid for In the last occasion, Bouthillette admitted that in April 2010, he provided flood remediation work at Moreau’s Lincoln home which Moreau never paid for. Moreau admitted to the court that he accepted each of these gratuities from Bouthillette.

Bouthillette, whose conviction and sentence are unaffected by today’s court actions, was sentenced to three years of probation, including 2,000 hours of community service to the residents of Central Falls – the equivalent of one year of fulltime employment without pay - and a fine of $5,000. The court also ordered Bouthillette to provide the Rhode Island Foundation with a payment of $160,000 to establish an endowment of charitable funds for the residents of Central Falls for public safety, housing and education programs. In addition, Bouthillette is prohibited from collecting more than $275,000 in liens placed on properties for board-up work he performed for which he yet to be paid. The court ordered that any remaining funds to be collected by Bouthillette are to be provided to the City of Central Falls.

The cases were prosecuted jointly by the state and the government in federal court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly and Rhode Island Assistant Attorney General J. Patrick Youngs.

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NEW: Former Central Falls Mayor Moreau Pleads Guilty to Bribe