Rhode Island is beginning to resemble a scary Kafkaesque state where massive corruption goes unattended, while smaller misdeeds get punished vehemently.
It’s hard not to have that reaction to the news of Rhode Island State Representative Joe Almeida’s arrest for allegedly misappropriating about $6,000 in campaign funds, given the fact that much larger misdeeds have been met with radio silence from the authorities.
Almeida’s arrest was met with predictable and superficial analysis on social media, talk radio, and throughout the state's coffee shops. Shallow statements like 'more corruption in the statehouse', and 'what a big surprise', and then the popular partisan refrain 'more Democratic corruption' have been the common statements in the wake of Almeida's arrest.
But those types of sentiments overstate what Almeida is being accused and, and quite frankly, downplays the serious corruption, prosecuted and not prosecuted, that's plagued Rhode Island over the last several decades. It really begs the question as to whether or not Almeida is being scapegoated and prosecuted in order to satisfy the public’s yearning for justice.
Campaign Accounts
In fact, knowing how politicians use their campaign finance accounts, it's hard to get fed up over what Almeida has been accused of. State police investigators arrested Almeida on the premise that he couldn't prove where he spent his campaign funding over several months during 2012.
Keep in mind, campaign contributions are not taxpayer money, and Almeida is not being accused of taking improper campaign donations. And in the grand scheme of things, $6,000 is nothing--Senators and Representatives routinely spend thousands at Rhode Island eateries. Legislators and general officers (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, etc.) are permitted by law to spend their campaign cash on things that are campaign related (even remotely related).
Almeida, a former police officer, who has made a name for himself at the statehouse as a champion of minority rights, is accused of merely failing to document how his money was spent--which is a felony, and seems like a heavy punishment. Sure, if Almeida did, in fact, use the money for reasons that those donations weren't intended for, that's an injustice, but it's certainly not public corruption and is no reason to put him in prison.
Not public corruption
Make no mistake about it: Almeida is not being accused of selling his public office for his own personal gain here. When former House Majority Leader Gerard Martineau pled guilty to selling bags to health care companies in exchange for blocking pharmacy freedom of choice bills, which were was an affront to the general public. The same was the case when former State Senator John Celona admitted to taking gifts in exchange for legislative favors. That's not what's being accused here.
It seems like Almeida would've been better of had he never even bothered to file the campaign finance reports at all, as that's been done by two members of current Providence City Council leadership with very little repercussions. Most likely, what Almeida is guilty of is being a horrific records keeper. That's not a good thing by any stretch of the imagination, but hardly a reason to throw someone into the hoosegow.
What's frustrating for people who monitor Rhode Island politics is the fact that a relatively small issue like Almeida's campaign records keeping results in a high profile arrest, yet the 38 studio's debacle has resulted in 0 arrests. The corruption at the RI Resource Recovery Center has resulted in 0 arrests, and the state of Rhode Island paid an extra million to investigate that matter. (On a federal level, the shenanigans by the hucksters in the finance industry resulted in 0 arrests). On those cases, the people of Rhode Island were literally burnt out of more than $100 million in each instance, and there has been no justice metered out.
Lack of justice
Further, the state legislature has refused to pass an ethics bill that would subject state legislators to the same ethics rules that the state's general officers, and mayors and other executives are subject to. Currently, the state code of ethics doesn't prevent state legislators from voting on bills that would directly benefit themselves or their families--let that sink in.
There's certainly a lack of justice in the state of Rhode Island with respect to its government and how it's operated in the past, but the arrest of Almeida does nothing to address those issues and is a distraction at best and an injustice of its own at worst.
Russell J. Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in RI media, both for newspapers and on political campaigns. Send him email at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter@russmoore713
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island Biggest Political Scandals
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.
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.
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.
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.
In 2003 Operation Dollar Bill, a codename for an undercover investigation by the FBI, looked into corruption in the state of Rhode Island. State Senator John Celona was investigated for accepting money and gifts from CVS, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, and Roger Williams Hospital.
In 2005, charges were filed against Celona for accepting gifts and money from CVS, Roger Williams and Blue Cross & Blue Shield. These companies all had interest in legislation that Celona was involved in as the Chairman of the Senate Corporation Committee.
Celona did his best to receive a lenient sentece by cooperating with the governemt and proved to be a key witness in the conviction of two former Roger Williams Medical Center Executives. Celona was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
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.
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.
38 Studios was a video game company founded in 2006 by former Major Leaguer Curt Schilling. First based in Massachusetts, the company moved to Rhode Island to secure a $75 Million loan guarantee from the state’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
In 2012, 38 Studios released its first game, “Kingdoms of Amalur”. In May of 2012, 38 Studios missed a payment of $1.125 million to the RIEDC. Later that month 38 studios paid a check for that amount, but it was later returned by the state for inefficient funds. On that same day 38 Studios did not make the payroll for its employees.
At the end of May, 38 Studio laid off all of their employees. In June, 38 Studios filed for bankruptcy. At the same time Federal and State officials begin a probe of the company. That year the state sued 38 Studios as well as Schilling.
In May of 2014, a report came out that the video game company knew that the money they had received was not going to be enough to cover the development of their first project.
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.
Following the raid, Fox resigned as Speaker of the House. Days after the resignation from Fox, Nicholas Mattiello was chosen to replace him.
