Click here to learn more. Here's a preview. Jacobson thinks the governor's office could be declared a criminal enterprise by the feds once an indictment is issued. He cites a similar case in Rhode Island, although that defendant, Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, was found guilty on a charge unrelated to the criminal enterprise accusation.
Rhode Island, by the way, must be a shameless place. The last time I ran the Boston Marathon, in 2004, a race expo exhibitor was promoting the Buddy Cianci Half-Marathon in Providence. Cianci, a Democrat, began his prison sentence in 2002.
UPDATE January 3: I didn't get the Cianci conviction exactly right, which is not a suprise, as it's a trick case. Here's a better explanation, per the Providence Journal:
The trial began in April with Cianci facing 24 charges arising from a federal corruption probe dubbed Operation Plunder Dome, which had already resulted in six convictions, including four city officials who had been charged with taking bribes for tax favors.
Cianci had been indicted a year earlier on charges of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, as well as additional counts of bribery, extortion and witness tampering. He was accused of taking bribes for a $1.2-million School Department lease, extorting $250,000 from city tow-truck operators, selling a city job for $5,000 and a substantial tax break for $10,000, and agreeing to another $10,000 bribe to sell city real estate.
Cianci also was charged with abusing his office to extort a free lifetime membership in the University Club, a private East Side club, and tampering with a witness subpoenaed to the grand jury to testify about the club.
More:
After more than a week of deliberations, the jury returned a split verdict that baffled trial followers. The jurors convicted Cianci of racketeering conspiracy, acquitted him on nine other counts and said they were deadlocked on the remaining two counts involving the University Club.
In short, he was found guilty of running a criminal enterprise.
Cianci first ran for office as a Republican, then as an independent.
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My family is scattered about New York and New England. My parents and a brother lived in Rhode Island through most of the 1980s and much of the 90s. The historical corruption there rivals that of Illinois.
ReplyDeleteTime flys when the Fitzmeister
ReplyDeleteis having fun.
It's Expletive golden, if they
ReplyDeletedon't like it Expletive them!
Oh Blago you sure get creative
with the language!