Vincent Cianci, this city’s brash and long-serving mayor, was convicted Monday of conspiring to turn City Hall into a virtual shopping center where power and influence were up for sale.
After seven weeks of testimony and nine days of deliberation, a federal jury found the mayor, 61, guilty of a single count of racketeering conspiracy, while acquitting him on the 11 remaining charges.
The jury found that Cianci and two co-defendants concocted and ran an elaborate scheme to solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for city jobs and political favors. But Cianci was found not guilty of directly accepting bribes or extorting cash.
The single conviction could bring him up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Immediately after the verdict, the state attorney general issued an opinion permitting Cianci to remain in office until he is sentenced, on Sept. 6, although the City Council could seek to remove him sooner. The mayor has said that he intends to seek a seventh term in November.
The normally voluble mayor received the verdict with no display of emotion. Cianci left without commenting to a crowd assembled outside the courthouse.
But at a City Hall news conference later, Cianci enumerated the charges on which he was acquitted.
“I can tell you that there is one charge remaining and I will continue to fight to preserve my innocence,” said the mayor.
Prosecutor Richard Rose left the court smiling but declined to comment.
Cianci’s co-defendants–former chief assistant Frank Corrente and tow-truck operator Richard Autiello–also were found guilty Monday of racketeering conspiracy. Corrente was convicted on seven of 16 counts, including racketeering, while Autiello was convicted on three of seven charges.
Cianci did not testify, and throughout the long trial he stayed at the helm of the once-seedy municipality that he personally re-christened “the Renaissance City.” He socialized, appeared on national radio broadcasts and wasted no opportunity to promote his own brand of spaghetti sauce, The Mayor’s Own.
He has insisted that he plans to run in November for a fourth consecutive term, and a Brown University poll released as the jury began deliberations suggested that with a 59 percent approval rating, victory likely would be no problem.
State law and city ordinance conflict over procedures for removing an elected official convicted of a felony. The Providence City Council was expected to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday to determine whether–or when–to call for Cianci’s resignation.
But Gov. Lincoln Almond, a former U.S. attorney, issued his own call Monday for the mayor to step down.
“I think the time has come to say the capital city cannot stand this type of corruption,” said Almond, a Republican. “Enough is enough.”
