Celona has pleaded guilty to selling his office to Roger Williams Medical Center through a consulting job that he held with a hospital affiliate, the Village at Elmhurst. He is the government’s star witness in the trial of Urciuoli, the former Roger Williams president, as well as former Roger Williams vice president Driscoll and former Village co-owner Peter J. Sangermano.

Bristow later introduced a note that Driscoll wrote Celona, after he missed a meeting at the hospital because his son had cut himself, in which Driscoll voiced her concern for the child.

Bristow also displayed a series of Celona memos documenting the kind of innocuous work that the defense argues Celona performed as a consultant, including a presentation at a senior center about Roger Williams services, arranging a benefit softball game between hospital employees and state senators, and proposing a sponsorship of the Rhode Island Senior Olympics.

Regarding the Senior Olympics, Celona wrote that either the hospital or the Village at Elmhurst should get involved. Bristow pressed that point to question Celona’s previous testimony that he was unaware of the financial relationship between the hospital and the assisted-living center, which was half-owned by Roger Williams.

"Were you aware by this point that the Village was part of Roger Williams?’’ asked Bristow.

"No, sir,’’ answered Celona.

Bristow completed his cross-examination just before court adjourned today.

Tomorrow, Sangermano’s lawyer will question Celona and then the government expects to move on to its next witnesses. They are James McGuirk, the lawyer who was involved in seeking an Ethics Commission opinion regarding Celona’s job, and Richard E. Gamache, who was the administrator of Elmhurst Extended Care, the hospital-owned nursing home.

Read more about this morning's testimony.

-- Journal staff writer Mike Stanton