« Chief justice appoints tribunal-chief selection panel | Today | Smithfield soon gets traffic divider to reduce crashes »

August 8, 2007

Alert: Urciuoli files appeal of his conviction

PROVIDENCE -- A former medical center executive asked a federal appeals court today to overturn his conviction for paying a state senator to advance his hospital's political agenda, saying the trial judge gave the jury flawed instructions.

Robert Urciuoli, the former president and chief executive of Roger Williams Medical Center, was convicted last fall of conspiracy and mail fraud for directing ex-state Sen. John Celona to support bills favorable to the hospital and oppose legislation the hospital was against.

Urciuoli was convicted with Frances Driscoll, a former medical center vice president, as part of a sweeping federal probe into State House corruption.

Defense lawyers argued in written briefs submitted to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston that U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres erred by permitting the jury to consider work that Celona did for the hospital -- such as lobbying towns for increased ambulance runs and arranging meetings with insurance company executives -- that had nothing to do with legislation or his job as a senator.

The appeals court has allowed both defendants to remain free on bail pending their appeal, saying the men raised important questions about the jury questions.

Urciuoli was sentenced to three years in prison, and Driscoll was sentenced to eight months in prison followed by eight months of home confinement.

Celona, a once-powerful lawmaker who chaired a Senate committee that dealt with health-care legislation, was hired as a consultant for an assisted-living home affiliated with Roger Williams. In reality, prosecutors said, he was paid by the hospital executives to promote their legislative agenda and perform other favors.

He was paid more than $250,000 for his work. Celona pleaded guilty in 2005 to having improper business dealings with Roger Williams, CVS Corp. and Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He is serving a 2 1/2 year federal prison sentence.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 4:18 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)