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January 5, 2007

Update: Bevilacqua, Cicilline indicted for conspiracy

John M. Cicilline, the brother of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges in a Boston federal court this afternoon.

It was announced hours earlier that Cicilline and former law partner Joseph A. Bevilacqua Jr. have been indicted in Boston on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

Cicilline, 49, of Cranston, was released in lieu of $10,000 bond. Bevilacqua is set to be arraigned later in the month.

Bevilacqua, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to charges of leaking an FBI videotape to Rhode Island television reporter Jim Taricani, had been completing his prison term in a Massachusetts halfway house. He is the son of former Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph A. Bevilacqua, and the brother of former Senate Majority Leader John Bevilacqua.

The indictment, unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Boston, charges Bevilacqua and Cicilline with leading a conspiracy in which they took at least $150,000 from clients accused of drug dealing to help them gain a more lenient sentence.

Also charged is Juan Giraldo, who worked as an interpreter for Bevilacqua and Cicilline, and Lisa Torres, a paralegal interpreter, who is also accused of assisting the lawyers in the scheme. Giraldo is serving a federal prison term for cocaine trafficking.

Bevilacqua and Cicilline surrendered to authorities in Boston this morning, according to Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. Giraldo, who is already in prison, will be summoned at a later date.

The case stems from the 2002 arrest of John Mendonca and his wife, Jacqueline Mendonca, in Warwick by federal and local authorities. Agents also seized marijuana and $1.3 million in cash, and the Mendoncas were subsequently indicted in Boston in 2003 on drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges. Cicilline and Bevilacqua became their lawyers.

-- Journal staff writer Mike Stanton, with reports from Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits and The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 5:35 PM | Permalink

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