Over seven years after he agreed to wear a wire for the FBI former North Providence Councilman and Rhode Island Deputy Secretary of State Paul F. Caranci provides the missing details of his work to expose corruption in his hometown. GoLocalProv is publishing a chapter a week starting Monday of Caranci's book.
The newest book, "Wired: A shocking True Story of Political Corruption and the FBI informant Who Risked Everything to Expose It" explains his motives in reaching out to the FBI, his frustration in dealing with a corrupt government in the years prior and his traumatic experiences in the months and years that followed.
It was an explosive case of political corruption that rocked a small town, an entire state and drew headlines across the nation. Three sitting councilmen had been arrested and accused of executing a scheme to extort bribes. And once the dust settled, as many as ten officials were caught up in a scandal that swirled around nearly everyone in the suburban New England town that some called, “the most corrupt town in America.”
Yet, had it not been for Caranci who worked undercover with the FBI for seventeen months – the career politician with thirty years’ experience railing against corruption – the scheme may never have been revealed. In Wired, the author shares his own harrowing personal account of how he gambled his thirty-year political career, his reputation, and his family’s safety in his quest to restore good, honest government to a community that needed it most.
“But,” according to the author, “Wired is more than just the tale of one valiant act. It is an exhaustively researched and detailed journey through the ins and outs of gritty small-town politics, behind the scenes dealings, and the corrupt activities that obscure local politics in the modern era. It’s the story of something that could happen in any town in America, and regrettably, probably does.”
Caranci noted that Wired is a blueprint for those who serve or have an interest in serving in local elected or appointed political office. It is, in fact, a guide for all citizens on what needs to be done to retrieve our government from the clutches of those whose greed and avarice would steal it from us through kleptocracy.
Wired: A shocking True Story of Political Corruption and the FBI informant Who Risked Everything to Expose It, sells for $23.00 and is currently available on Amazon.com and other on-line outlets. It will soon be available in many bookstores. Signed copies may also be obtained by emailing Caranci at [email protected].
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s History of Political Corruption
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 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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
