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March 24, 2008

Ex-Johnston art dealer back in court on escape charge

PROVIDENCE -- Rocco P. DeSimone, a former Johnston art dealer accused of escaping from a federal prison camp where he'd been serving time for tax evasion, has until April 4 to decide whether to ask that the escape case be moved to Rhode Island from New Jersey.

A judge set that date during a federal court hearing in Providence this afternoon after DeSimone's
lawyer sought more time to explore the possibility of his client requesting the case be moved.

DeSimone did not speak at today's court hearing.

DeSimone, 55, was charged in a federal warrant with fleeing the Federal Correctional Institution, in Fairton, N.J., a minimum-security facility for men. Federal authorities have said he was found to be missing at a 7 p.m. check on Saturday, March 15.

He surrendered to U.S. marshals in Providence and first appeared in U.S. District Court last Wednesday, March 19, two days after his wife, Gail DeSimone, was accused of helping him to escape.

DeSimone had only nine months left to serve. That will be lengthened by any term he gets if convicted of escaping. He could receive up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for the new offense, a U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman has said.

Gail DeSimone surrendered to authorities a week ago and has been ordered held in home confinement at the couple’s house, at 103 Hopkins Ave., Johnston.

Authorities have alleged that after DeSimone walked away from the New Jersey incarceration facility, his wife picked him up in a rental car after flying from Rhode Island to Philadelphia on Saturday.

DeSimone made his bid for freedom just two days after FBI agents searched his home as part of an investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering, federal authorities said. The agents seized numerous items, including a $180,000 Ford GT sports car, Japanese swords and artifacts.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Thomas J. Morgan and Journal archival reports

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 5:55 PM | Permalink

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