Pawtucket Hires Son of Democratic Committeeman to Conduct Investigation of Mayor Grebien
Sunday, April 24, 2016
The City of Pawtucket hired the son of a Rhode Island State Democratic Committeeman to investigate criminal allegations levied against Democratic Mayor Donald Grebien, GoLocalProv has learned.
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.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTRead: Head of State Police Says Municipal Criminal Investigations Should Have Come to Them
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.
James J. Caruolo also serves as the Town of North Providence’s Assistant Solicitor, and has a strong focus on real estate law, as evidenced by his Facebook page.
“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 scope of “investigations” did not end there though. The City of Pawtucket said that they would be looking into possible criminal misconduct by the sender of the letter.
“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.
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s History of Political Corruption
Related Articles
- Col. O’Donnell Says Corruption Allegations Should be Referred to RI State Police
- Grebien Being Investigated by Pawtucket Police for Relationship with Employee-Tenant
- Pawtucket Mayor Has Stalled on Sending Potential Violations to Ethics
- Pawtucket Looking at Possible Criminal Intent Over Ethics Allegations Released
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Don Grebien: A Fiscal Crossroads for Pawtucket
- Grebien’s Shared Services Proposal has Governor’s Support
- PowerPlayer: Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien
- Pawtucket Fights to Keep PawSox: Mayor Grebien’s Letter to Larry Lucchino
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Don Grebien: McCoy Stadium, Where History Still Lives
- NEW: RI State Police to Investigate Pawtucket Police Body Slamming Incident
- Pawtucket Mayor Pleads with Larry Lucchino for Meeting
- Mayors Grebien, Diossa Will Guest Bartend to Benefit Pawtucket Boys & Girls Club