PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A prominent real estate developer accused of bribing North Providence councilmen asked a federal judge Friday to dismiss the charges against him and his company, saying prosecutors treated him unfairly.
The developer, Richard Baccari Sr., and his company, Providence-based Churchill & Banks Co., are each charged with one count of bribery and one count of conspiracy.
Prosecutors say Baccari and his firm paid a $50,000 bribe in 2009 to the councilmen through middleman Robert Ciresi, a former town solicitor who was working for the company. In exchange, authorities say, the councilmen agreed to a zoning change so he could build a supermarket. The investigation was part of a larger federal corruption probe that resulted in the convictions of three North Providence councilmen and others.
Baccari was treated unfairly and prosecutors presented false information to the grand jury, his Boston-based lawyer, Anthony M. Cardinale, argued in U.S. District Court in Providence. Another developer, Kevin O’Sullivan, said in court in 2011 that he bribed North Providence councilmen but was not charged, Cardinale added.
“We’re here to talk about the fundamental fairness in bringing these charges,” Cardinale said.
Prosecutor John P. McAdams said the grand jury was not misled and the high standards to dismiss the case were not met in court Friday.
“I should sit down now,” McAdams said shortly after he stood up to present. “They have utterly failed in proving their motion.”
McAdams also said that prosecutors have discretion in deciding who to prosecute and it is not the court’s job to review why one person was charged and another was not.
John W. Mitchell, a New York-based lawyer for Churchill & Banks, asked that statements from a former councilman, John Zambarano, not be admitted. He said Zambarano gave several different accounts of the events that transpired and the defense will not have the opportunity to cross-examine him.
Zambarano and former Town Councilmen Joseph Burchfield and Raymond Douglas III pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, extortion and bribery in 2011. Ciresi was convicted that year of conspiracy, bribery and extortion. All four are serving prison terms. A fifth man, Edward Imondi, pleaded guilty to facilitating a $21,000 bribe for a different development.
McAdams said the Supreme Court has upheld that co-conspirator statements, such as Zambarano’s, are admissible in court.
Judge John J. McConnell Jr. did not immediately rule on the motions.
Mitchell said outside the courtroom that it is “hard to say” whether McConnell will dismiss the case.
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