Moore: Only Voters Can Stifle RI Corruption
Russell J. Moore GoLocal MINDSETTER
Moore: Only Voters Can Stifle RI Corruption
Of course it’s frustrating that the result of the criminal investigation by the Rhode Island State Police and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s office didn’t uncover enough evidence to convince a grand jury to charge anyone with a crime in conjunction with the harebrained investment scheme that cost Rhode Islanders tens of millions.
I’d venture to say that nobody is more frustrated than me that no charges resulted from the criminal investigation. Like any other Rhode Islander, I wanted to see someone like Michael Corso, Gordon Fox’s former right hand man, pay engineering this ill-fated deal. But if there’s not enough evidence to convince a grand jury to indict anyone connected to the deal, than there’s really nothing more that can be done on the criminal front. To quote the classic movie Cool Hand Luke, “I don’t like it any more than you.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLack of Evidence
“…at the end of the day, the bottom line is there is not enough evidence to bring charges against anyone. Bad politics, bad public policy, bad business decisions do not always rise to the level of criminal conduct,” Kilmartin said Friday.
We don’t have to like it, and I certainly don’t, but at the end of the day, Kilmartin is correct. Who amongst us would want to see an American citizen charged with a crime when the evidence and laws didn’t support an indictment? That wouldn’t be justice.
At the end of the day, the people of Rhode Island should blame themselves for the lack of ethics in Rhode Island’s government. In democracies, the government is a reflection of the people. If the government officials are corrupt, it’s because most of us are.
A Reflection
In the same respect, part of the problem with voters is we tend to be preoccupied with other things, or just too downright lazy to pay attention to public policy, and to get involved in a way that makes things better. If Rhode Islanders are truly frustrated or outraged by the 38 Studios debacle, they should be getting involved. That means getting educated and paying attention to the issues.
It means watching how their particular representatives and state senators vote in the state legislature. It also means doing the hard work of either running, or finding someone to run for office that will advocate for the public’s interest instead of their personal interest.
Unfortunately, human nature is frustrating. Corruption, instead of galvanizing the masses, tends to have the opposite impact.
Corruption’s Impact
Stephen D. Morris and Joseph L. Klesner, two political science professors, in their 2010 study “Corruption and Trust: Theoretical Considerations and Evidence from Mexico”, theorized as much based on what they found. Even when folks elected pro-reform politicians, they didn’t expect much to change.
Further, and this is the case more than I’d like to believe, people also have a tendency to take on a “if ya can’t bet em, join em,” attitude and seek to “get in the (corruption) game” themselves. They run for office not to fix problems and do good, but to instead become a part and parcel to the problem. It’s the old “I gotta get mine”, mentality. In Rhode Island, that attitude seems to run rampant.
Democracy is a term that sure sounds good. Who wouldn’t want a government based on self-determination? But with that power that our elections grant us comes responsibility. And with responsibility comes work.
Get Involved!
It’s very easy to sit inside a your living room, a coffee shop, or pick up a phone and call talk radio and vent your anger. It’s much harder to go door to door with flyers supporting your preferred political candidate. It’s much harder to run for office.
In sum, getting involved is hard.
But if you’re not paying attention and doing the hard work, than you really don’t have the right to complain. If we’re truly frustrated by corruption and want to do good, we need to work harder to make a better Rhode Island government. And no, it won’t come easy.
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.
