Smiley's Donors Include 38 Studios Player, Felon Linked to Organized Crime and Strip Club Owner

Smiley's Donors Include 38 Studios Player, Felon Linked to Organized Crime and Strip Club Owner

Providence Mayoral hopeful Brett Smiley filed his campaign finance report on Monday and announced he raised approximately $164,000 for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Smiley -- a former top staffer to Mayor Jorge Elorza and former Governor Gina Raimondo -- holds a significant lead in the Providence mayor's race. He now has $535,614.97 cash on hand. 

And, some of his donors are names that have made a great deal of news in the past few years -- not necessarily good news. 

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38 Studios Dealmaker

One top donor is Michael Corso — who was the player who facilitated much of the 38 Studios deal, in part by trading on his access to then-Speaker of the House Gordon Fox.

According to documents from the 38 Studios lawsuit, Corso helped to design the State House financing, and entered into an agreement with 38 Studios that would have paid him a 5% commission – or $3.75 million – for helping to secure a $75-million taxpayer-backed loan from the state of Rhode Island.

The deal also included a 2% ownership stake in the gaming company.

38 Studios became one of the biggest business and political failures in the history of the state of Rhode Island.

Corso donated $1,000 to Smiley’s campaign.

 

Dion - Ties to Organized Crime

Another donor to the campaign is Richard  “Ricky” Dion — who is a former Providence Police officer, has deep ties to organized crime, and in 1999 was convicted by federal prosecutors for cocaine dealing, extortion, and racketeering. 

According to federal court documents, “Richard A. Dion pled guilty to five counts of an indictment charging him with distributing cocaine, and to three counts of a separate indictment charging him with racketeering and extortion. Because the quantity of cocaine distributed was more than 500 grams, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines call for a sentence of 63-78 months, mandates a sentence of at least five years in prison.”

The federal racketeering indictment charged that Dion was "part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to collect gambling debts by extortionate means. Specifically, it alleges that Dion acted as an enforcer and threatened at least two people with physical harm if they failed to make payment. One of the victims was Robert Atamian, who Dion learned was addicted to the prescription drug Vicodin. When Atamian became fearful for his safety, he sought protection from the FBI. Agents persuaded him to begin purchasing Vicodin and, later, cocaine from Dion who was under investigation for his role in the racketeering activity.”

Dion more recently has faced other issues with law enforcement. In August of 2018, WPRI reported that “two men that investigators say have ties to organized crime have changed their plea in a case that they tried to use street justice after one of them was the victim of a burglary. Frank Zammiello, 72, of Cranston, and Richard Dion, 52, of Johnston, appeared in Kent County Court on Thursday to change their original not guilty plea.  Dion entered a plea of no contest to simple assault and was given a one-year suspended sentence and one-year probation. Two other charges of conspiracy and disorderly conduct were dropped, according to court documents.”

Dion donated $500 to the Smiley campaign.

 

The Desire Owner

Another donor to the Smiley is Gerard DiSanto, the owner of Club Desire. The club has made the media for a number of reasons including when the Club, DiSanto, and others were subject to a lawsuit that claimed by an exotic dancer who sued the strip club and its ownership for allegedly not paying dancers and forcing them to pay rent. The club was also searched by law enforcement in the Aaron Hernandez murder investigation in 2013.

DiSanto donated $1,000 to Smiley. And, the strip club owner also donated $1,000 to another mayoral candidate Gonzalo Cuervo.

Smiley refused to respond to questions about the donations.

In September 2021, Smiley agreed to pay $4,500 in a settlement agreement with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission over campaign donations from state contractors.

 

BELOW - SEE WHO IS LEADING THE PROVIDENCE MAYORAL FUNDRAISING RACE 

This story was updated at 8:28 AM