Speaker Mattiello, Convention Center’s Demers & State House Staffers Linked By Their Sons’ Baseball

Speaker Mattiello, Convention Center’s Demers & State House Staffers Linked By Their Sons’ Baseball

The dads of the Western Cranston 2007 All-Star team are inextricably linked, not just with the memories of their sons' state championship performance, but also by a network of politics and state jobs that have developed over the past decade.

The 2007 Western Cranston All-Stars team won the Rhode Island State Championship and went on their way to the regionals in hopes of making their way to Williamsport and Little League history.

The team’s coach, players, and parents now make up a powerful line-up linked to the State House and growing political controversies.

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On their way to Williamsport, the Cranston team lost to Walpole, MA.

While the boys lost their chance for ESPN fame, their fathers' bonds were made.

Mattiello is in the Cranston West Little League Hall of Fame, his enshrinement reads in part, "House Speaker Mattiello has been a longtime supporter of CWLL serving as a coach to his two sons Nick and Tony. He along with his wife MaryAnn, were proud parents watching their sons win the RI State Little League Championship and advancing to Bristol, CT for Regionals."

Here is the Line-Up Card

Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello; James Demers, the controversial head of security at the Rhode Island Convention Center and Dunkin’ Donuts Center; and Mattiello State House attorney John Manni are bound together through their sons' little league team back more than a decade ago.

Demers, who served on the Rhode Island State Police, was the coach of the team. Today, Demers is receiving a state pension beyond his salary at the Convention Center. Presently, Demers is on administrative leave tied to a personnel issue, first reported by WPRI.

Also working for the Speaker is one of the stars of the 2007 Cranston All-Stars, Demers' son Garrett, who serves part-time as an Assistant Clerk for the House Judiciary Committee according to State records. He earns $45,000 for a part-time job.

The younger Demers is at the center of another major controversy and lawsuit involving the Rhode Island State Police.

Rhode Island State Police Lt. Michael Casey alleged in a lawsuit that top brass at the State Police told him to falsify the records of the younger Demers when he was an applicant for the Rhode Island State Police. In the lawsuit filed by Casey, the younger Demers had multiple contacts with law enforcement in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Casey’s lawsuit asserted that Demers' police contacts were tied to sexual harassment and other serious incidents.

Those named in the suit include Colonel James Manni and recently retired Lt. Colonel Joseph Philbin deny Casey’s allegations.

Casey has returned to work after being on leave.

One of the other fathers of a player on the Cranston All-Stars is John C. Manni — who is not related to the State Police’s Manni, but today continues his close bonds with Mattiello.

Manni, a private attorney, earns $120,324.10 a year in his part-time role at the State House, according to state records. Some of his private work includes setting up the corporation for Rhode Island State Police Commander Jay Gibbs who is under investigation for running Ocean State Scale and Balance. The potential conflict by Gibbs of running the business while serving on the State Police was uncovered by GoLocal this week.

Manni’s former law associate and Mattiello's personal attorney Michael DiChiro Jr. was named a Traffic Court Magistrate in 2019.

DiChiro Jr. defended Mattiello in hearings before the Rhode Island Board of Elections against allegations that Mattiello’s 2016 campaign violated campaign-finance laws.

That investigation has led to charges against former Mattiello campaign consultant Jeff Britt who is scheduled for trial on March 10.

Mattiello declined to comment on the story.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  An earlier version of this story stated that Casey had dropped his lawsuit against the RISP. That action is still pending.