News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island
June 15, 2009
U.S. Attorney Corrente Announces Resignation
Robert Clark Corrente, the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island has announced today that he plans to resign, effective at midnight on Friday, June 26, 2009. Corrente, who was in private practice before his appointment as U.S. Attorney in 2004, announced that he will join a private law firm as of July 1.
Corrente, a graduate of Dartmouth College and New York University School of Law, has served as U.S. Attorney since August, 2004, when he was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
In his resignation letters to President Obama and Attorney General Holder, Corrente said, “It has been a great privilege to have served the country, the Department of Justice, and especially the people of Rhode Island.”
The U. S. Attorney’s office comprises 22 attorneys and is responsible for conducting all criminal and civil litigation in Rhode Island involving the United States government. During Corrente’s tenure, the office undertook a number of substantial public corruption investigations, which resulted in the conviction of state lawmakers John Celona and Gerard Martineau, along with Roger Williams Medical Center CEO Robert Urciuoli, and executives from the former Lincoln Park slot parlor. The office also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with Roger Williams Medical Center that resulted in a restructuring of its leadership, and an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, under which the insurer paid $20 million, which was used to create a fund to enhance access to primary care health services in the State.
Among other highlights, the office also investigated and prosecuted a number of complex white-collar and health care fraud cases and, in a major environmental case, convicted the Southern Union Company, the Texas-based former owner of the New England Gas Company, of illegal mercury storage.
Mr. Corrente also expanded the coordination and training elements of the District’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council, and the office established the nation’s first Transportation Security Working Group, which brought together law enforcement and industry partners to enhance security on trains and other modes of mass transit. He also oversaw the creation and development of Street Smarts, an educational program for high school and middle school students and teachers on the realities of street gangs and guns. The Department of Justice has hailed the program as a national model for anti-gang education.
Corrente said he will always appreciate the staff at the U.S. Attorney’s office. “The success we have realized and the initiatives we have undertaken are due in large part to the outstanding professionals in this office. I am grateful to them, and to our federal, state, and local partners in law enforcement. It has been an honor to work with them.”
Contact: 401-709-5000 USARI.Media@usdoj.gov