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October 1, 2007

Sign of what's ahead? Celona now in R.I. prison

John Celona is back in town, a sign that the long-running federal corruption probe of the Rhode Island State House is heating up.

The convicted former senator from North Providence, whose State House double-dealing sparked the sprawling investigation known as Operation Dollar Bill, has been quietly moved from a federal prison in western Pennsylvania to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls.

In March, Celona began serving a 2-1/2-year prison term after pleading guilty to using his public office for private gain and agreeing to cooperate with the authorities against some of his former legislative colleagues. Celona’s assistance, a prosecutor told a judge in January, had spawned 14 "active investigations’’ of 7 politicians and 7 corporations.

From Blue Cross to Beacon Mutual, from CVS to Citizens Bank, the investigation is being handled by a task force encompassing the FBI, the Rhode Island State Police, criminal investigators from the IRS and U.S. Department of Labor, as well as one-fifth of the resources of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Providence.

Five months after Celona reported to a low-security prison in Loretto, Pa., he was transported back to Rhode Island around Aug. 7 by federal authorities, U.S. Marshal Burton Stallwood confirmed today.

U.S. Atty. Robert Clark Corrente declined to comment on Celona. But his homecoming likely means that investigators need to talk to him, or have him testify before the grand jury, as their efforts on a number of fronts progress.

Celona’s lawyer, William C. Dimitri, said that Celona is happy to be closer to home and family, even if it is a high-security facility for accused drug dealers and others awaiting trial, as well as convicts waiting to be sentenced.

"He’s doing fine, hanging in there,’’ said Dimitri. "Obviously, it’s easier for him to see his children and his wife, and that’s some comfort. He’s anxious to finish his sentence and get home to his family.’’

Dimitri declined comment on the reasons for Celona’s transfer, and said that he has no idea when he might be sent back to a federal prison, or even whether he would be returned to the same prison.

Celona, 54, whose whereabouts have previously been identified on the Bureau of Prison’s Web site as Loretto, is now listed on the "inmate locator’’ as being "in transit.’’ His scheduled release date is March 28, 2009.

Extra: A special report on Celona's case and its fallout.

Read more in tomorrow's Journal and on projo.com ...

-- Journal staff writer Mike Stanton

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 6:38 PM | Permalink

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