Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

A Christmas classic gets a performance in Providence tonight at 8.

Trinity Rep. in Providence puts on A Christmas Carol, a "timeless tale of the power of forgiveness," as description on projothebeat.com puts it.

Ticker prices start at $10. Call (401) 351-4242.

If not tonight, there are more days to catch it: tomorrow, Sunday and Tuesday. Then there are more performances next weekend.

For more to do this weekend, check out projothebeat.com, the Journal's online calendar.

By Lynn Arditi
Journal staff writer

If you call the state unemployment division to speak with a customer service representative you can expect to wait, on average, 100 minutes.

Yes, that's 1 hour and 40 minutes, said Raymond A. Filippone, assistant director, income support for the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

Rhode Island's rising unemployment rate and the state and federal extended benefits programs are driving up the caseload of unemployment claims, Filippone said.

Rhode Island's unemployment rate in October jumped to 9.3 percent, the highest since 1983. The ranks of the unemployed last month swelled to 52,900, from 29,700 in October of last year, state data shows.

For quicker service, people with questions about their unemployment benefits are advised to contact the division by e-mail from the division's web site at http://www.dlt.ri.gov. The division will respond back within 72 hours, said Filippone.

PROVIDENCE -- By Jan. 3, Rhode Island will reel back in $62 million in state investments from a money-market fund frozen in September after economic tailspin spurred investors to flee with billions of dollars, the state general treasurer's office said today.

General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio said in this afternoon's news release that the money will be returned to the state with no financial loss.

Tim Gray, the treasurer's spokesman, said that if the step to get the funds back had not been taken, the investments could potentially lose value over time. He said it would have taken a long time to get the investments back if the state had not acted now.

The state's investments are being secured by putting the fund they are in into the U.S. Treasury's newly created Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds.

"Through the hard work of my office and a coalition of investors, we were able to secure Rhode Island's assets in an extremely timely manner," Caprio said in the statement.

In October, Caprio said he was seeking to unfreeze the state investments from a fund held by The Reserve company. Since then, the state got an "initial distribution" of $26 million on Nov. 13. The state will receive the remaining $36 million in the beginning of the new year, according to Caprio's office.

On Wednesday, The Reserve entered into a "letter agreement" specifying that if the Reserve is unable to sell its U.S. Government-backed securities by Jan. 3, the Treasury will buy them, at no loss, from The Reserve.

In September, the $7 billion Reserve Co. U.S. Government Fund -- which held many investors' funds, including the state's $62 million -- had all its assets frozen. That happeend after one of its managed funds -- not the one Rhode Island was invested with -- had "broken the buck," meaning fallen below the money-fund industry's $1-a-share standard.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with Journal archival reports

PROVIDENCE -- A man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for heroin trafficking and possessing a firearm.

In June, Robert Cruz, 29, pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute heroin and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a news release today from U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente's office. Judge Mary M. Lisi imposed the sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Providence.

In April 2006, Pawtucket police said they seized heroin, drug-trafficking materials, a pistol, and a bullet-proof vest from Cruz's Benefit Street apartment in Providence.

Prosecutor Zechariah Chafee said at the plead hearing that the government could show that, on April 12, 2006, Pawtucket Police used a search warrant at Cruz's apartment and found several bags of heroin, a loaded .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun and several boxes and magazines of ammunition, including hollow-point bullets.

The police also seized about $1,100 and a "Second Chance" bullet-proof vest.

Cruz was twice previously convicted of heroin trafficking, in 2004 and 1998. the U.S. Attorney's office said. Since his 2006 arrest, he has been imprisoned at the state Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

By Tatiana Pina
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- An expert in child-abuse pediatrics who attended 3-year-old Thomas "T.J." Wright at Hasbro Children's Hospital after he had been severely beaten said today that the boy's injuries were not consistent with a fall down stairs.

"This child suffered multiple injuries. Many children fall down the stairs. They don't suffer this amount of injuries," Dr. Reena Isaac, now employed with Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, testified in the murder trial of Gilbert Delestre in Providence County Superior Court.

Delestre is charged with murder and conspiracy.

Prosecutors say that Delestre and his then-girlfriend, Katherine Bunnell, severely beat the child, who was known as T.J., after arriving at their Woonsocket apartment from a night out to find spilled yogurt and milk on living-room carpet.

Bunnell was convicted in May of second-degree murder and a conspiracy to commit murder charge. In October, she was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility fo parole.

The boy was declared brain dead. He died on Oct. 31, 2004.

When T.J. arrived at the hospital in Providence, he was comatose. He had significant facial and head bruises, a broken femur -- thigh bone -- and bleeding on the brain, according to Dr. Isaac. The prognosis was grave, she told the jury today.

Robert Mann, defense lawyer for Delestre, has said Delestre hit T.J. and that T.J. fell down stairs, but that Delestre did not intend to kill the child.

Mann has asked for a manslaughter charge instead of murder and conspiracy.

Yesterday, the babysitter who was at the apartment the night the couple came home, testified.

By Talia Buford
Journal staff writer

A man the police say ran his vehicle into an officer during a traffic stop Wednesday has been charged.

Jose A. Rodriguez, 25, of 1417 Plainfield Pike in Johnston, was charged last night with assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving, driving under the influence and operating a vehicle on a suspended license. He was arraigned in Kent County District Court this morning.

According to the police, Rodriguez ran into a Cranston police officer as he approached Rodriguez's car near Dyer Avenue and Cranston Street just before midnight Wednesday. As the car approached the officer, the officer fired at the car, said Maj. Ronald Blackmar. Rodriguez and an unspecified number of occupants fled in the car but were stopped again near Terrace Avenue in Providence.

The officer, Rodriguez and the other occupants of the car were taken to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment and released shortly after. The officer sustained some injuries and is home on work related medical leave.

Rodriguez was seen before a bail commissioner Thursday night and formally appeared in court this morning. Officers from the Cranston Police Department, the Rhode Island State Police and the Attorney General's office are still investigating.

Catch some laughs with amateur comedians tonight at 7:30 at Twin River in Lincoln.

Amateur comedians compete for $100 prizes and spots in the finals of Catch A New Rising Star contest. The audience judges winners.

There will also be a special appearance by Catch a Rising Star's weekend headliner.

For more to do tonight and through the weekend, check out projothebeat.com, the Journal's online calendar.

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- Three months after the Center for Hispanic Advocacy & Policy's board of directors fired its executive director and took control of the agency, the board's president, Juana Horton, has resigned.

Horton said today, "It is a personal decision because of time commitment." She is president and CEO of Horton Interpreting, Inc., and chair of the Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce of Rhode Island.

In a phone interview, Horton said there was no connection between her resignation and the firing in August of Miguel Sanchez-Hartwein, who ran the agency for three years.

"What happened with Miguel was the board was going in one direction and our executive director (Sanchez-Hartwein) was going in another direction," said Horton. "The board had specific goals and initiatives and the executive director was not in agreement with those, so that's what's called going in different directions."

Since the board was put in control of the agency, however, "CHisPA became a very time-consuming board commitment, since it is taking more time to run the organization," said Horton. "We don't have an executive director. It became very time-consuming to help run it."

Horton said she has served on the CHisPA board for five years, during which time "it has made many significant strides, raising funds, dealing with many organization issues. I find that the current board is very eminently capable of advancing CHisPA to its next level of development."

In a statement, the board said its vice president, Doris Blanchard, will temporarily serve as president pending an election. Blanchard could not be reached for comment.

Horton said she would not be leaving the board unless she felt it was in capable hands.

By Mark Reynolds
Journal staff writer

JOHNSTON -- A 26-year-old Scituate man was arrested this morning and charged with dumping waste from Massachusetts at Rhode Island's Central Landfill, the authorities said.

Frank J. Martinelli, of 56 Peeptoad Rd., Scituate, was arrested shortly after he and another worker arrived at the landfill's tipping station around 9 a.m. and began to toss garbage from Webster, Mass., said Police Chief Richard S. Tamburini.

Martinelli continued dumping material after an inspector determined that the debris was from out-of-state and ordered him to stop, Tamburini said.

As a result of the incident, the owner of Martinelli's company, David Spaziano, of Davinci Landscaping, has lost his privilege to dispose of waste at the landfill, Tamburini said.

Martinelli was arraigned in District Court, Warwick, and is scheduled to appear Jan. 28 in Superior Court.

By Lisa Vernon-Sparks
Journal staff writer

CRANSTON -- A police patrol officer who was struck yesterday as he tried to make a traffic stop, fired his gun at the driver as the car pulled off, the police said today.

The incident happened last night around 11:40 when the officer pulled over a vehicle near Dyer Avenue and Cranston Street, according to Cranston police Maj. Ronald Blackmar. As the officer approached the car, the driver began to flee, hitting the officer with the vehicle as he drove away. The officer fired his gun at the vehicle.

Sometime later, Providence and State Police responded to Terrance Avenue, where the driver, the vehicle, and others, were located. Blackmar would not say if a chase ensued from Cranston to Providence, whether the driver had been hit by the shot fired by the police officer or what kinds of injuries the driver had.

The officer, whom the police would not name, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence where he was treated for his injuries and released, said Blackmar. He declined to describe the officer's injuries.

The police officer is at home but has not been placed on administrative duty, pending an investigation, aided by the State Police and the Attorney General's office, Blackmar said.

"We haven't taken any action yet. He may or may not be placed on administrative duties, depending on how the investigation goes," Blackmar said. "At the present time he is out of work because of his injuries.There is no reason to put him anywhere."

Meanwhile, the police this afternoon took into custody the driver, and other suspects who may have been in a vehicle last night.

The driver has not been charged with anything yet, Blackmar said. He said a charge could come later today.

PAWTUCKET -- The city Emergency Management Agency is conducting a drill on Saturday morning to test the agency's ability to quickly dispense medicine to hundreds of residents affected by a major public-health emergency or pandemic.

The city police and firefighters, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, and officials from the state Department of Health are participating, and so can you. The city EMA director Robert Howe is inviting members of the public to observe or participate in the exercise, as "victims" in need of medicine. The drill starts at 9 a.m. at Jenks Junior High School.

Anyone interested in participating in Saturday's drill or in joining the city's civilian emergency response team may contact Howe at (401) 729-5846.

-- Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits

PROVIDENCE -- New England is sliding into a "significant recession" and is expected to lose a quarter-million jobs during the rest of the decade.

Economists at the New England Economic Partnership forecast today that unemployment in the region would rise to its highest level since 1992, hitting more than 8 percent by mid-2010.

The 250,000 job loss is about 3.6 percent of the region's employment, which will decline for the rest of the decade and then flatten out through 2011.

Rhode Island's jobless numbers are expected to be released tomorrow.

NEEP releases its economic forecasts twice a year.

Rhode Island is expected to top the list, peaking at 10.3 percent unemployment, while Vermont and New Hampshire unemployment rates would increase the least.

-- The Associated Press and projo.com

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
David Mello, left, stands to say he was sorry for the pain caused to the family by the death of Marc Quintal. Mello had pleaded guilty to killing Quintal. Mello's lawyer, John E. MacDonald, is at right. The tattoo on Mello's neck reads "Loyalty."

PROVIDENCE -- David Mello was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison for murder and other charges -- plus probation and a consecutive suspended sentence -- in what the judge said will keep him under court supervision "until you're a doddering old man, if you make it that far."

Mello, 21, of various Rhode Island and Massachusetts addresses, was sentenced today by Judge Robert D. Krause in Providence County Superior Court on one count of second-degree murder, one count of robbery conspiracy, one count of unlawful use of a firearm in commission of a crime of violence, and one count of carrying a pistol without a license.

Mello pleaded guilty to the charges in May in connection with the murder of Marc Quintal, 20, of Fall River, Mass., on Aug. 15, 2007, in South Providence.

Krause imposed a 60-year-sentence, 40 of the years to be served at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, plus a consecutive sentence of 10 years suspended.

Mello and co-defendant Sylvester Moses, also 21, pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob Quintal and his companions during a drug deal in South Providence.

Quintal and companions drove from Fall River to Providence, where they were confronted by Mello and Sylvester. Quintal resisted during the robbery attempt, and Mello shot him once in the back. Quintal was later pronounced dead.

The judge is slated to sentence Moses this afternoon.

Mello was originally indicted for first-degree murder but as part of pleading guilty was instead convicted and sentenced of second-degree murder and the other charges. That spared him, if convicted of first-degree murder, from being sentenced to life in prison.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has invited Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, Sen Edward M. Kennedy and two of their Republican colleagues to the White House tomorrow to commemorate their work to enact landmark legislation for the mentally ill.

Accompanying the two Kennedys will be Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R.-N.M., and Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., their partners in the campaign for a new law that will put mental health insurance on a par with coverage of physical ailments.

The mental health parity bill passed both houses of Congress as an attachment to the $700-billion Wall Street rescue package that the president signed into law.

Enactment of the mental health bill -- the result of years of negotiations among medical, business and mental health lobbies -- was thus overshadowed by the drama surrounding the bailout bill.

Patrick Kennedy's office said tonight that the White House had finalized preparations for the legislators' meeting with the president. Only the four principal sponsors of the parity bill have been invited.

The event, perhaps one of Mr. Bush's last as president with members of Congress, may have a poignant element. Domenici, a longtime mental health champion who has a grown daughter with schizophrenia, is retiring at the end of this congressional term. Mr. Bush first publicly endorsed mental health parity while campaigning for Domenici during that senator's last re-election six years ago.

Senator Kennedy, one of the nation's leaders on health-care policy, has only recently returned to work after months of treatment for brain cancer.

Ramstad and Patrick Kennedy have both been supporters of mental health parity for years, but their advocacy for the cause has intensified since Ramstad, a recovering alcoholic, reached out to help the younger Kennedy battle his own addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs.

Ramstad is also retiring from Congress in several weeks.
-- John Mulligan, Journal Washington Bureau

A man suspected in a string of thefts in three communities is being held without bail as the police complete investigations that stretch from Cranston to Warwick to North Kingstown.

Jason Bruno, 38, whose last known address was in Warwick, faces charges in a series of thefts in buildings, boats and at least one car, authorities said today.

He was arrested in Cranston on Nov. 8 on charges that he broke into several boats at the Port Edgewood Marina and the Rhode Island Yacht Club, and he has since been charged with multiple counts of breaking and entering in North Kingstown and one count of larceny in Warwick.

His arrest helped the Cranston police in another case, one involving two incidents of breaking and entering at a condominium complex on Hoffman Avenue, said Maj. Ronald T. Blackmar. The suspect broke into the basement of the complex, rummaged through 19 storage areas and used a small kitchen area to make dinner, helping himself to, among other things, some Barilla bow-tie pasta, the police said.

Police detectives lifted a fingerprint from the pasta box, but they could not trace it to anyone until they arrested Bruno and discovered they had a match, Blackmar said.

In the Cranston incidents, Bruno is charged with larceny over $500 and receiving stolen goods over $500, breaking and entering, vandalism and resisting arrest, said Blackmar and Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the attorney general's office.

In the North Kingstown incidents, he faces multiple counts of breaking and entering into a building at night, one count of larceny over $500 and multiple counts of vandalism, according to court records.

In the Warwick case he is charged with larceny over $500, for allegedly stealing a laptop computer and a GPS system from a motor vehicle, Healey said.

Bruno is being held a as a probation violator because he pleaded no contest earlier this year to unlawful appropriation over $1,000. He received a three-year suspended sentence and four years probation in that case and also had to pay back the victim, Healey said.

Bruno has scheduled violation hearings for Nov. 25 in Kent County Superior Court and Dec. 1 in Washington County Superior Court, Healey said. If deemed to be a violator, the attorney general's office can ask that he serve up to the three years he received as a suspended sentence, Healey said.

Bruno also has a prearraignment hearing scheduled for Jan. 9 in Providence County Superior Court.

-- Journal staff writer Randal Edgar

PROVIDENCE -- A Coventry woman today pleaded guilty in federal court to making fraudulent checks on a computer and shipping other such checks -- her role in what prosecutors say was an international scheme that tried to get check recipients to wire real money.

Nancy Alexander, 66, of Victory Highway pleaded to one count of mail fraud involving about $1.7 million in counterfeit checks and money orders, admitting she made fraudulent checks and forwarded others that had been shipped to her from Nigeria, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente's office.

Maximum penalty is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Alexander is free on bond pending a scheduled April 3 sentencing hearing.

Prosecutor Lee H. Vilker said at the plea hearing the government could show that those behind the scheme provided Alexander with information to create and mail counterfeit checks, including payee names and addresses, check amounts, and counterfeit shipping labels. Alexander created on her home computer about 291 counterfeit checks, "totaling $1.6 million in purported value," and shipped them to intended victims throughout the United States, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Unknown people contacted the victims to try to persuade them to deposit the counterfeit checks and wire some of the "purported value" to another account, the news release says.

According to a Secret Service affidavit in the criminal complaint against Alexander in July, agents intercepted a parcel in April addressed to Alexander that held 119 counterfeit checks and money orders, the U.S. Attorney's office said. The parcel originated in Nigeria and had been shipped through France.

Agents found that victims and intended victims were approached in several ways. For instance, one was approached after she posted a resume online; another had advertised a pool heater for sale in a local newspaper; and, another had been seeking a work-from-home job. All were asked to cash checks of various amounts, keep some of the money and wire the balance to other accounts.

All the checks turned out to be counterfeit and victims lost money they had wired back -- ranging from $2,000 to $5,000. Other targets either waited for the checks to clear -- which they did not -- or did not respond at all.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

PROVIDENCE -- A 73-year-old pharmacist who has co-owned a Providence drug store pleaded guilty in federal court today to misbranding drugs, illegally distributing controlled substances, and health-care fraud.

Carmine DeTomasis, a pharmacist who was co-owner of Prime Drug on Cranston Street, admitted in U.S. District Court in Providence to illegally buying prescription drugs from Louis Romanelli and illegally selling pharmaceuticals to Romanelli, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente's office.

DeTomasis also admitted he submitted false reimbursement claims to health-insurance carriers for prescription drugs the store had not dispensed.

Projo.com reported in May that the state Department of Health shut down the pharmacy.

Romanelli, 81, of Providence, has pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-distribution conspiracy and awaits sentencing.

At DeTomasis' plea hearing today, prosecutor Adi Goldstein said the government could show that several times this year Romanelli went to Prime Drug, often after business hours, and sold DeTomasis prescription medications -- often those used to treat HIV/AIDS.

An undercover agent got prescription medications from another pharmacy and sold them to Romanelli, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Romanelli also got controlled substances such as hydrocodone from DeTomasis at Prime Drug.

>> Continue reading: Providence pharmacist pleads guilty to fraud charges

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Gilbert Delestre, center, sits with his defense lawyer, Robert Mann, today in Providence County Superior Court.

PROVIDENCE -- The murder trial of Gilbert Delestre, who is accused of beating to death 3-year-old Thomas J. Wright in Woonsocket four years ago, began today with a rescue worker testifying the child was so bruised "he appeared like he had been in a boxing match."

Delestre is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Prosecutor Stacey Veroni said in opening statements in Providence County Superior Court that Delestre and his then-girlfriend, Katherine Bunnell -- the boy's aunt -- beat him severely when they returned to their apartment on Oct. 30, 2004, from a night out. The boy died on oct. 31.

Lt. Edward Bertholic, the Woonsocket Fire Department rescue worker, testified that when he got to the Diamond Hill Road apartment, a fire engine was already there and workers brought the child to his rescue truck.

Bertholic said the boy had facial bruising and swelling and his left arm and legs were bruised and looked like they might be broken.

Bertholic took the boy to Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket and then to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence. During his time with the child, the boy never gained consciousness.

Veroni told the jury that Delestre and Bunnell tried to blame the babysitter, Kayla Roderick, who was watching the boy while the couple was out. Veroni mentioned that the night of the beating, the babysitter said she turned to see Delestre in the apartment with his arms extended and the boy flying through the air. She said the boy landed with his left leg under his stomach, according to the prosecution.

Bunnell, who is T.J.'s aunt, and Delestre were caring for T.J., his two brothers and the couple's own two girls. T.J.'s mother, Karen Wright, was serving time in an Illinois prison for marijuana trafficking.

In his opening statement today, Robert Mann, Delestre's defense lawyers, told the jury that Delestre admitted that he had hit the boy, that the boy fell down stairs and was badly hurt as a result. But Mann said Delestre denied that he threw the boy across the room and denied that he intended to kill him.

Mann asked the jury to acquit Delestre of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and suggested they convict him instead of manslaughter.

Bunnell has been convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy. She was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina and The Associated Press

By Gregory Smith
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- The director of building maintenance at the Providence Public Safety Complex has been charged with two crimes in connection with the theft of a portable police radio, according to the police.

Robin Evans is charged with larceny over $500 and wrongful conversion, which is an embezzlement-related crime. Both charges are felonies.

He was arraigned in District Court yesterday before Judge Michael A. Higgins, who released him on $10,000 personal recognizance pending further court action.

Evans is suspended from his job pending resolution of the charges.

By Katie Mulvaney
Journal staff writer

A federal appeals panel today upheld a lower court ruling in finding that the Nazis had, in effect, stolen a painting from a Jewish art collector 50 years ago.

The decision by a three judges from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the artwork, Girl from the Sabiner Mountains, had been robbed from collector Max Stern when the Nazis forced him to liquidate his inventory in a forced sale in the 1930s.

"A de facto confiscation of a work of art that arose out of a notorious exercise of man's inhumanity to man now ends with the righting of that wrong through the mundane application of common-law principles," Judge Bruce M. Selya wrote. "The mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine."

The painting had hung in German Baroness Maria-Luise Bissonnette's Park Row West apartment. Bissonette's stepfather bought it at the Lempertz Auction House in Cologne, Germany, in November 1937. Bissonnette had appealed the lower court ruling.

The case was initially filed in federal court in Rhode Island, where Bissonnette had moved in 1991. Her putting the painting on the market in 2003 led to the discovery of its whereabouts, failed negotiations over its return, and the resulting court action.

Read the appeals court ruling issued today.

By Tatiana Pina
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- The trial for Gilbert Delestre, who is accused of beating 3-year-old Thomas J. Wright to death four years ago, is scheduled to begin today in Providence County Superior Court.

Delestre faces one count of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Judge Netti C. Vogel will hear the case.

Lawyers finished jury selection yesterday, picking 10 women and 4 men who will hear the case. When all evidence is presented, 12 jurors will be selected to determine innocence or guilt.

Prosecutors say that Delestre and his girlfriend, Katherine Bunnell, beat her nephew, Thomas, to death four years ago after they returned to their Woonsocket apartment from a night out and found yogurt and milk he had spilled on the living room floor. Delestre and Bunnell were caring for Thomas and his two brothers in addition to their own two children while Bunnell's sister, Karen Wright, served a prison term in Illinois for marijuana trafficking.

The pair was given separate trials because they each accused the other of inflicting the injuries that killed Thomas. Bunnell, who was charged with murder and conspiracy, was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy. She was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

A Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble concert is tonight from 8 to 10.

It is the first such concert of the season and will be with the Rhode Island College Wind Ensemble.

It's being held at Rhode Island College, Sapinsley Hall, Providence.

For more to do tonight and throughout the week, check out projothebeat.com, projo.com's calendar of events around our region.

A Baltimore kickboxer today was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole for a murder two years ago in a Warwick motel.

Malbon Bolden, 47, of 7007 Lachlan Circle, Baltimore, was sentenced by Judge Edwin J. Gale in Kent County Superior Court for murdering Maria Sample, 44, on March 19, 2006, according to a news release from Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office.

The judge also ordered Bolden to serve one year on one count of resisting arrest.

On Sept. 3, Bolden pleaded guilty to the charges in what the attorney general's office said was not a negotiated plea because the state did not give up any rights in securing it and did not dismiss any counts of the indictment.

Bolden has been held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston since Warwick police arrested him.

In his guilty plea, Bolden acknowledged the state would have shown he murdered Sample and that the death was in a "manner consistent with aggravated battery or torture," the attorney general's office said. That gave the court the option of imposing life imprisonment without parole, but the judge did not impose life without parole in this case.

The attorney general's office said that more than 40 relatives and friends of the victim were in court today.

>> Continue reading: Man gets life imprisonment for Warwick motel murder

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Investigators continue today to work the scene of a fatal plane crash that occurred last night near the North Central State Airport. Watch of a video of the scene and hear investigators talk about the crash.

By Thomas J. Morgan
Journal staff writer

More than 200 yards down a dirt driveway today lay the wreckage of a plane, white metal glowing in the afternoon sun that sliced through secondary growth trees in one of the more rural parts of Smithfield.

Blackened streaks from fire scarred the upside-down remains. Two bodies had been removed by the state medical examiner. Killed in the crash were Ronald Tetreault, 64, of Glocester, and Robert Zoglio Jr., 43, of Richmond, their wives said today.

They died after the small plane they were flying crashed into woods between Clark Road and Limerock Road about a half-mile from the North Central State Airport in Smithfield at about 5 p.m. yesterday.

The fire was "post-impact," said Shawn D. Etcher, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, during a news conference this afternoon in Smithfield.

Etcher said that a report that the plane lost power was merely "a rumor" at this point. But he said that the purported power loss would be looked into as part of the probe.

A clutch of felled trunks pointed toward the wreckage, indicating that the aircraft had been flying in a roughly northeast direction when it clipped the top of the trees.

James J. Warcup, an aeronautics inspector for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, said today that at least some of the trees had been cut down before the crash. One broken trunk, still erect, was at least five inches in diameter. Whether it had been involved in the incident was not known.

An electrical cable strung from poles lining the driveway survived the crash. Warcup said the plane apparently cleared the cable before crashing perhaps 100 feet beyond.

The crash site sat within a sort of courtyard, a clearing in the woods half surrounded by an ornate stone wall. A large utility building or garage stood within the courtyard.

Warcup said the now-abandoned complex had been "a project in the '60s or '70s that didn't work out." Plans for a house evidently were never completed, he said.

Warcup and Etcher said it would take six months to a year for the NTSB to issue a report listing the cause of the accident. "We're not going to jump to any conclusions," Warcup said. He added that a preliminary check of the wreckage indicated that "all pieces are accounted for."

Etcher said the plane wreckage would be moved today to a hangar at nearby North Central State Airport, where it would be looked over for several days.

"If there's a part that's different from normal, we'll check it out," he said.

By Barbara Polichetti
Journal staff writer

CRANSTON -- The Coastway Cares Charitable Foundation today announced that it is pledging $100,000 to Kent Hospital's $2.8 million capital campaign for a new heart center.

The pledge from the non-profit foundation supported and managed by employees of Coastway Credit Union is the largest commitment the foundation has made in the past few years and one of the largest donations Kent has received since launching its fundraising campaign about a year ago, according to officials at both Coastway and Kent.

"I'm so proud to be able to make this contribution to such an important project in the community," William White, president and CEO of Coastway, said today.