Pawtucket Hires Son of Democratic Committeeman to Conduct Investigation of Mayor Grebien
Kate Nagle, GoLocalProv News Editor
Pawtucket Hires Son of Democratic Committeeman to Conduct Investigation of Mayor Grebien
Following accusations of criminal misconduct by the Mayor sent anonymously to the City of Pawtucket, the City hired lawyer James J. Caruolo as “special counsel” — who told GoLocal that he is the son of North Providence Democratic Party Committeeman James F. Caruolo, who serves on the committee alongside Mayor Grebien.
The case was not referred to the Rhode Island State Police which is customary. Democratic State party documents show that the older Caruolo and Grebien have served on the Democratic Committee going back to as early as 2011.
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Campaign finance record show that Caruolo father and son have given thousands in political donations to top Democratic officials including former House Speaker Bill Murphy and current Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, former Attorney General Patrick Lynch, North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi, and former General Treasurer Frank Caprio.
“Have I ever been hired as special counsel by a city or a town before this? No,” said Caruolo on Friday. “I’ve got over twenty years of experience in criminal law, including as a former state prosecutor.”
His law firm's website focuses on real estate work. “The perplexities of real estate transactions can be intimidating. Our goal at the Law Offices of James J. Caruolo is to ensure our clients a stress-free experience,” according to his firm’s website. The site does promote his criminal defense work including “Assault and Battery” and “Domestic Abuse.”
According to Colonel Steven O’Donnell of the Rhode Island State Police, this type of case — an allegation of criminal wrong doing by an elected official — should have been referred to the public corruption unit for review. CLICK HERE to read the Colonel's comments.
Timeline of Grebien Allegations
GoLocal reported on March 6 that an anonymous source had contacted the City of Pawtucket regarding allegations pertaining to the Mayor’s relationship with a tenant — who is a city worker.
“The Pawtucket Police Department is looking into the relationship between Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien and a city parks employee who has been a residential tenant of Grebien's — according to Mayor himself,” reported GoLocal.
On March 7, GoLocal reported that Grebien, after having received the materials -- including a letter addressed to the State Ethics Committee -- had referred the matter to the City to handle, but had not followed up with the Ethics Commission.
“The City of Pawtucket's Director of Administration said Monday that they are looking into the contents of materials circulating regarding pay raises of a tenant of Mayor Donald Grebien, who is a municipal employee -- not for any potential ethics violation involving the Mayor, but rather if there was criminal intent contained in the release of the documents,” GoLocal reported on March 10.
Caruolo confirmed on Friday that he has only been hired as of March 11 to look into the criminal allegations against the Mayor.
“I’m not sure of your conversation with Tony Pires, but I’ve been hired to look into the criminal allegations levied against Mayor Grebien, no one else,” said Caruolo.
Rhode Island's History of Political Corruption
Buddy Cianci
Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci resigned as Providence Mayor in 1984 after pleading nolo contendere to charges of assaulting a Bristol man with a lit cigarette, ashtray, and fireplace log. Cianci believed the man to be involved in an affair with his wife.
Cianci did not serve time in prison, but received a 5-year suspended sentence. He was replaced by Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. in a special election.
Joseph Bevilacqua
Joseph Bevilacqua was RI Speaker of the House from 1969 to 1975, and was appointed as Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court in 1976. It was alleged that Bevilacqua had connections to organized crime throughout his political career.
According to a 1989 article that appeared in The New York Times at the time of his death:
The series of events that finally brought Mr. Bevilacqua down began at the end of 1984... stating that reporters and state police officers had observed Mr. Bevilacqua repeatedly visiting the homes of underworld figures.
The state police alleged that Mr. Bevilacqua had also visited a Smithfield motel, owned by men linked to gambling and drugs...
Thomas Fay
Thomas Fay, the successor to Bevilacqua as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, resigned in 1993, and was later found guilty on three misdemeanor counts of directing arbitration work to a partner in his real estate firm, Lincoln Center Properties.
Fay was also alleged to use court employees, offices, and other resources for the purposes of the real estate firm. Fay, along with court administrator and former Speaker of the House, Matthew "Mattie" Smith were alleged to have used court secretaries to conduct business for Lincoln, for which Fay and Smith were business partners.
Fay was fined $3,000 and placed on one year probation. He could have been sentenced for up to three years in prison.
Brian J. Sarault
Former Pawtucket Mayor Brian J. Sarault was sentenced in 1992 to more than 5 years in prison, after pleading guilty to a charge of racketeering.
Sarault was arrested by state police and FBI agents at Pawtucket City Hall in 1991, who alleged that the mayor had attempted to extort $3,000 from former RI State Rep. Robert Weygand as a kickback from awarding city contracts.
Weygand, after alerting federal authorities to the extortion attempt, wore a concealed recording device to a meeting where he delivered $1,750 to Sarault.
Edward DiPrete
Edward DiPrete became the first Rhode Island Governor to be serve time in prison after pleading guilty in 1998 to multiple charges of corruption.
He admitted to accepting bribes and extorting money from contractors, and accepted a plea bargain which included a one-year prison sentence.
DiPrete served as Governor from 1985-1991, losing his 1990 re-election campaign to Bruce Sundlun.
Plunder Dome
Cianci was forced to resign from the Mayor’s office a second time in 2002 after being convicted on one several charges levied against him in the scandal popularly known as “Operation Plunder Dome.”
The one guilty charge—racketeering conspiracy--led to a five-year sentence in federal prison. Cianci was acquitted on all other charges, which included bribery, extortion, and mail fraud.
While it was alleged that City Hall had been soliciting bribes since Cianci’s 1991 return to office, much of the case revolved around a video showing a Cianci aide, Frank Corrente, accepting a $1,000 bribe from businessman Antonio Freitas. Freitas had also recorded more than 100 conversations with city officials.
Operation Plunder Dome began in 1998, and became public when the FBI executed a search warrant of City Hall in April 1999.
Cianci Aide Frank Corrente, Tax Board Chairman Joseph Pannone, Tax Board Vice Chairman David C. Ead, Deputy tax assessor Rosemary Glancy were among the nine individuals convicted in the scandal.
N. Providence Councilmen
Three North Providence City Councilmen were convicted in 2011 on charges relating to a scheme to extort bribes in exchange for favorable council votes. In all, the councilmen sought more than $100,000 in bribes.
Councilmen Raimond A. Zambarano, Joseph Burchfield, and Raymond L. Douglas III were sentenced to prison terms of 71 months, 64 months, and 78 months, respectively.
Charles Moreau
Central Falls Mayor Charles Moreau resigned in 2012 before pleading guilty to federal corruption charges.
Moreau admitted that he had give contractor Michael Bouthillette a no-bid contract to board up vacant homes in exchange for having a boiler installed in his home.
He was freed from prison in February 2014, less than one year into a 24 month prison term, after his original sentence was vacated in exchange for a guilty plea on a bribery charge. He was credited with tim served, placed on three years probation, and given 300 hours of community service.
Joe Almeida
State Representative Joseph S. Almeida was arrested and charged on February 10, 2015 for allegedly misappropriating $6,122.03 in campaign contributions for his personal use. Following his arrest, he resigned his position as House Democratic Whip, but remains a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly.
Gordon Fox
The Rhode Island State Police and FBI raided and sealed off the State House office of Speaker of the House Gordon Fox on March 21--marking the first time an office in the building has ever been raided.
Fox pled guilty to 3 criminal counts on March 3, 2015 - accepting a bribe, wire fraud, and filing a false tax return. The plea deal reached with the US Attorney's office calls for 3 years in federal prison, but Fox will be officially sentenced on June 11.
