PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A former head of the police union in Newport has been arraigned on a wire fraud charge after acknowledging he spent tens of thousands of dollars of union money on himself.
A not guilty plea was entered for Christopher Hayes during the hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Providence. He has agreed to eventually plead guilty as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors say he took more than $70,000 from 2009 to 2014 when he was the president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Newport.
Hayes retired from the force in 2015 amid an audit of union finances.
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