News and Press Releases
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Note: To request a specific press release issued prior to September 2009 please contact USARI.Media@usdoj.gov
May 2013
May 21, 2013
Christian M. Araujo, a/k/a Christian Sanchez, 46, of Providence, has been ordered detained in federal custody on a charge of possession with the intent to distribute Ecstasy. Araujo was arrested by DEA agents on May 17, 2013, after he allegedly delivered between 2,400 and 3,000 Ecstasy pills with an estimated street value of approximately $30,000 to a person posing as a drug dealer.
May 14, 2013
Jorge Daniel Estrada of Providence, R.I., and Angel Feliz of Dorchester, Mass., have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison sentences in connection with the seizure in October 2012 of 19 kilos of heroin, the largest single seizure in Rhode Island, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Paré; Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr.; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s New England Field Division; and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.
May 13, 2013
Michael Brier, 50, owner of Refunds Now Inc., a tax preparation firm based in Providence, R.I., was sentenced on Friday to 27 months in federal prison for violating a federal judge’s order permanently barring him from preparing tax returns for others, and for underreporting more than $1.1 million dollars in income between 2004 and 2009, and failing to pay nearly $400,000 in federal taxes, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation.
May 9, 2013
Charlie Rosario, 29, formerly of North Providence, R.I., was sentenced on Wednesday to 96 months in federal prison for conspiracy and trafficking more than 500 grams of cocaine in November 2010, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s New England Field Division; and United States Marshal Jamie A. Hainsworth.
May 8, 2013
A federal grand jury indictment which names seven individuals and alleges a complex interstate contraband cigarette trafficking conspiracy responsible for the sale of more than $1.2 million dollars of contraband cigarettes in Rhode Island and the loss of more than one million dollars in tax revenue to the state was unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Providence. It is alleged that the cigarettes were bought in Virginia and sold in Rhode Island in convenience stores and other locations allegedly owned or operated by members of the conspiracy and others. The indictment also alleges that defendants engaged in other types of program fraud, including Social Security and food stamp fraud.
May 6, 2013
Lin Xiao Wei, 33, a Chinese national, was sentenced on Friday to 16 months in federal prison for importing counterfeit tobacco products into the United States from China, earmarked for Rhode Island. In February 2013, Wei admitted to the court that in February 2012, he arranged for the shipment of a 20-foot cargo container containing counterfeit cigarettes from China to the United States.
May 6, 2013
Craig A. Carey, 44, of Fall River, Mass., was sentenced on Friday to 272 months in federal prison on conspiracy, bank robbery and firearm charges, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; West Greenwich Police Chief Richard N. Ramsay; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Richard Deslauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New England Field Office.
April 2013
April 12, 2013
Casey J. Dunphy, 38, of Providence, was ordered detained in federal custody on April 11, 2013, following an initial appearance in federal court on firearms and drug charges, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr., and Eugenio A. Marquez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Boston Field Office.
April 9, 2013
Edmond Paolucci, 54, of Coventry, RI, was sentenced today to 33 months in federal prison for his participation in an international conspiracy to import and distribute prescription drugs and anabolic steroids, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Mark Dragonetti, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigation.
April 5, 2013
Carlos Gonzalez, 42, of Pawtucket, R.I., was sentenced today to 168 months in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute one kilo or more of heroin, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha. Gonzalez was arrested by federal agents in January 2012, shortly after he accepted delivery of a parcel which had contained a large quantity of heroin stashed inside a pair of flat screened monitors shipped from Venezuela to his Pawtucket residence.
April 5, 2013
Denny Mendoza, 38, formerly of Providence, was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and United States Marshal Jamie A. Hainsworth.
April 4, 2013
Richard Scialo, 58, owner and operator of Personal Touch, a Providence based home and business cleaning service, pleaded guilty in federal court in Providence today to attempting to evade the payment of more than $180,000 in federal taxes by underreporting taxable income he claimed was cash “gifts” from some of his clients for whom he provided cleaning services.
April 4, 2013
Anthony Cucinotta, 28, of Johnston, R.I., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence today to 48 months in federal prison and fined $5,000 for growing marijuana in his home with the intent to sell it, and being a felon in possession of a semi-automatic pistol and an assault rifle, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Eugenio A. Marquez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Boston Field Office.
March 2013
March 28, 2013
Moises Tronilo, 27, of Providence, was ordered detained today on federal heroin trafficking and firearm charges, announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Eugenio A. Marquez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Boston Field Office. Tronilo was arrested on Tuesday by ATF agents following an undercover investigation into Tronilo’s alleged drug trafficking activities.
March 28, 2013
Audi Pineda, 39, of Pawtucket, a career offender, was sentenced on Wednesday in U.S. District Court to 120 months in federal prison, having been convicted by federal court jury on October 18, 2012, of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone, and possession with the intent to distribute oxycodone.
March 27, 2013
A Providence man who pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to drug and firearm charges could face up to life in federal prison when he is sentenced on June 18, 2013. Henry Lee, 30, was arrested by Providence Police on November 3, 2011, after they discovered crack cocaine and a loaded firearm stashed among children’s toys in Lee’s Providence apartment. A bullet proof vest was also seized from a kitchen closet.
March 26, 2013
Corey Kidd, 31, formerly of Warwick, was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for failure to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; United States Marshal Jamie A. Hainsworth; and, Warwick Police Chief Colonel Stephen M. McCartney.
March 25, 2013
Abel Perez, 31, of Cranston, was sentenced on Friday to 12 years in federal prison for trafficking heroin, being a felon in possession of a firearm and for use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New England Field Division.
March 18, 2013
James W. Snoke, 49, of Foster, was sentenced today to 151 months in federal prison for robbing a Cranston bank while claiming to be armed with an explosive device in November 2011, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Cranston Police Chief Colonel Marco Palombo, Jr.; Foster Police Chief Robert E. Coyne, Jr.; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Richard Deslauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.
March 13, 2013
Two Rhode Island men have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to participating in an international conspiracy to illegally import and distribute prescription drugs and anabolic steroids. Edmond Paolucci, 54, of Coventry, and Patrick Cunningham, 44, of Cranston, admitted to the court that they participated in a conspiracy to repackage the illegal drugs and sell them under various names and labels to consumers who placed orders via the Internet. A significant portion of the proceeds realized from the sale of the illegal drugs was laundered back to individuals in Israel.
March 13, 2013
David Crisostomi, 37, of East Providence, R.I., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on Tuesday to three counts of using a minor to manufacture child pornography, and one count each of possessing and distributing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Richard Deslauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office; and Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
March 11, 2013
Rolando A. Rojas, 34, of Providence, was sentenced today to 175 months in federal prison for trafficking crack cocaine. Rojas, a career criminal who was previously convicted on drug trafficking, firearms, felony assault and robbery charges, was convicted by a federal court jury on July 18, 2012, with selling crack cocaine on three occasions to an undercover federal agent.
March 8, 2013
Harold Moody, 47, of Providence, was sentenced today to 96 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Guy N. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Boston Field Office, and Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr.
March 7, 2013
Justin L. Worley, 34, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to nine counts of bank robbery, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha.
March 5, 2013
The United States Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by former North Providence solicitor Robert S. Ciresi, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha.
March 5, 2013
Rafael Lara-Mejia, a/k/a Gabriel Arenas, Martin Muniz Rosado, and Jeffrey Montanez Rivera, a Dominican national living in Providence, was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to steal and sell the identities and corresponding identity documents of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha.
March 1, 2013
Sixteen federal, state and local Rhode Island law enforcement agents and officers, and a federal prosecutor from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island, were recognized today with a top Department of Justice award for their achievements significantly impacting the trafficking of heroin along the “Heroin Highway.” This notorious stretch of highway, running from I-195 East from Providence, R.I., to Cape Cod, Mass., has been used for many years to transport heroin to street level drug dealers and drug users.
February 2013
February 28, 2013
Felix Reyes, 20, of Woonsocket, was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison for possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Woonsocket Police Chief Thomas S. Carey.
February 27, 2013
Isaiah Gasperini, 30, of Pawtucket, was sentenced today in federal court in Providence to 132 months and one day in federal prison for being in possession of an unregistered machine gun and ammunition, and for violating the terms of supervised release following a lengthy federal prison sentence on a previous federal firearm conviction, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr.
February 15, 2013
Glen Matteson, 52, of Richmond, R.I., a former Chariho High School assistant soccer coach, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence today to 60 months in federal prison on child pornography charges, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Richmond Police Chief Elwood M. Johnson, Jr.; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
February 15, 2013
According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Providence today, Justin L. Worley, 34, has agreed to plead guilty in federal court to robbing eight banks in Rhode Island and one in Massachusetts, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha.
February 14, 2013
Stephen Hickey, 60, of Warwick, R.I., was released to home confinement with electronic monitoring on unsecured bond following an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Providence today on a federal charge of possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Kevin M. Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
February 14, 2013
Gilberto Morales, 30, of Pawtucket, a convicted sex offender in Wisconsin, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Providence to 46 months in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, for failing to register as a sex offender, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, United States Marshal Jamie A. Hainsworth and Pawtucket Police Chief Paul King.
February 12, 2013
Former Central Falls, R.I., Mayor Charles D. Moreau, 49, of Lincoln, R.I, and longtime friend, business associate and political supporter Michael G. Bouthillette, 49, of Lincoln, R.I., were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence today for participating in a corruption scheme in which the former mayor accepted goods and services from Mr. Bouthillette as a reward for having directed and provided board-up work on more than 160 properties in Central Falls between 2007 and 2009, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
February 4, 2013
Juan Carlos Santiago, 35, of Providence, R.I., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to production of child pornography outside the United States and transporting it into the United States. Santiago faces between 15-30 years in federal prison, followed by 5 years to lifetime supervised release, when he is sentenced on June 6, 2013.
February 1, 2013
Andrew Rios, 41, of California, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence to 188 months in federal prison on drug trafficking charges, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin. Rios was arrested in January 2011 in connection with the seizure of 65 kilos of cocaine and more than $1.2 million in cash, the single largest seizure of cocaine in Rhode Island.
February 1, 2013
Lin Xiao Wei, 32, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to importing counterfeit tobacco products into the United States from China, earmarked for Rhode Island. Wei admitted to the court that beginning in February 2012, he arranged for the shipment of a 22-foot cargo container containing counterfeit cigarettes.
January 2013
January 31, 2013
An investigation by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) has resulted in the federal indictment of two individuals from Providence, R.I., on charges of allegedly embezzling federal tax checks in excess of $1,000, and allegedly converting the funds for personal use, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of IRS-CI.
January 30, 2013
William L’Europa, 47, of Scituate, co-operator of McCauley and L’Europa Public Adjusters, LLC and PIA Restoration, LLC, was sentenced today to 27 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to defraud the United States government and filing false tax returns.
January 30, 2013
James P. Perry, 35, of Pawtucket, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison on drug and firearm charges, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Pawtucket Police Chief Paul King. Perry was arrested by Pawtucket Police on March 15, 2012, during an undercover investigation into the trafficking of crack cocaine.
January 29, 2013
Jorge Daniel Estrada of Providence, R.I., and Angel Feliz of Dorchester, Mass., face up to life in federal prison when they are sentenced in April, after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to drug trafficking charges in connection with the single largest seizure of pure heroin from the streets of Rhode Island.
January 25, 2013
Dwayne O’Hagan, 30, of Woonsocket, arrested by members of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Drug Task Force in April 2012 for dealing cocaine on the streets of Woonsocket, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence today to 24 months in federal prison, the high end of advisory federal sentencing guidelines, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s New England Field Division; and Woonsocket Police Chief Thomas S. Carey.
January 24, 2013
Richard Paulino, a/k/a Jose Nieves and Jose Ayala, 30, a Dominican national living in Providence, was sentenced today to 57 months in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr.
January 18, 2013
Four defendants have been sentenced to federal prison and a fifth is awaiting trial in federal court on drug trafficking charges, for allegedly shipping packages containing substantial quantities of cocaine through the U.S. Postal Service, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Kevin M. Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division.
January 17, 2013
For the second time this week, a federal court judge has sentenced a previously convicted felon to a lengthy federal prison sentence for crimes involving the use or possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr; and Guy N. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Boston Field Office.
January 14, 2013
Alphonso D. Johnson, 38, of Providence, a career offender, was sentenced today to 312 months in federal prison for robbing a Providence convenience store clerk at gunpoint in April 2011, and for robbing and assaulting a Providence restaurant owner with a pistol two days later, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr.
January 14, 2013
Today, the United States Supreme Court denied petitions for writs of certiorari filed by Governor Lincoln D. Chafee and defendant Jason Wayne Pleau. This means that the Supreme Court has refused to consider the Governor’s and Pleau’s challenge to the earlier en banc decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, requiring that the state surrender custody of Pleau for trial on pending federal charges. United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha commented, “I am obviously pleased with the decision of the United States Supreme Court not to review the First Circuit’s entirely correct ruling requiring the State of Rhode Island to surrender custody of Mr. Pleau to the United States for trial in federal court. As we have been since September of 2010, we are prepared to move ahead with this case immediately and without delay.”
January 7, 2013
Peter A. Laporte, 47, of Warwick, a four-time convicted felon who helped orchestrate the straw-purchase of 10 firearms and a significant quantity of ammunition from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Wyoming, R.I., pleaded guilty today in federal court to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
January 4, 2013
Charles Fermin, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to 41 months in federal prison, having been convicted by a federal court jury in Rhode Island in September 2012 of trafficking cocaine and marijuana, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
January 4, 2013
Denis Quirke, 37, an Irish national, will be turned over to immigration officials for deportation proceedings after being sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to time served in federal prison for falsely representing to the government that he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for a Rhode Island identification card from the Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles in December 2011. Quirke has been detained in federal custody since his arrest on August 31, 2012.
