Former Speaker Fox sentenced to three years in federal prison

FORMER R.I. HOUSE SPEAKER Gordon D. Fox converses with Cranston Mayor Allan Fung during the opening of the 2011 legislative session. Fox was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for stealing campaign money, accepting a bribe and filing false tax returns. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RYAN T. CONATY
FORMER R.I. HOUSE SPEAKER Gordon D. Fox converses with Cranston Mayor Allan Fung during the opening of the 2011 legislative session. Fox was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for stealing campaign money, accepting a bribe and filing false tax returns. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RYAN T. CONATY

PROVIDENCE – Gordon D. Fox, the former R.I. House speaker and vice chairman of the Providence Board of Licenses, was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for stealing $108,000 in campaign funds, accepting a $52,000 bribe and filing false tax returns.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi also ordered Fox, 53, to serve two years supervised release upon completion of his prison term and to pay $109,000 in restitution, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the R.I. Attorney General’s Office.

The East Providence resident pleaded guilty on March 3 to wire fraud, bribery and filing a false tax return. He has been ordered to begin serving his prison sentence by July 7.

An 18-month federal grand jury investigation was led by prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the R.I. Attorney General’s Office, and investigators from the FBI, IRS and State Police. The investigation included the execution of court-authorized search warrants at the former speaker’s home and Statehouse office in March 2014; the issuance of more than 200 subpoenas; the examination of more than 36,000 bank, government, personal and campaign records belonging to Fox; and forensic examinations of numerous computers and other electronic devices.

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“It is a great irony that the man in Rhode Island once most responsible for securing the passage of laws somewhere along the way decided he no longer needed to follow them. And the laws former Speaker Fox chose not to follow were not just any laws, but rather laws designed to ensure the integrity of the legal and political process. In short, he violated his oath to the people of Rhode Island. He promised to do their business, not his own. His failure to keep that promise has brought him down today, and deservedly so,” U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha said in a statement.

Said Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin, “From day one, I pledged the resources of my office, and when the allegations surrounding the acceptance of a bribe by Gordon Fox arose, and it was recognized that the federal statute of limitations for that offense had expired, this office made a commitment to the United States Attorney to proceed with the prosecution of that charge in state court if necessary. The state, working jointly with the United States Attorney, was ready to prosecute the bribery charge had this case not been resolved in federal court, and this case now stands as a testament to the commitment of both offices to aggressively prosecute corrupt public officials.”
Kilmartin said Fox is not the first public official that the two offices have jointly prosecuted.
“While we can all hope it’s the last time we prosecute a public official, unfortunately history has taught us that it will happen again. But, let this serve as a warning to all public officials in this state, whether they are the Speaker of the House or a local board member – if you break the law, violate the trust the voters put in you and abuse your office, you will be held accountable,” Kilmartin said.

Fox admitted to the court during his guilty plea that from February 2008 until March 2014 he used money from campaign donors to pay personal expenses, such as the mortgage on his home, loan payments on his car and payments to his American Express credit card, which he used for purchases at several retail outlets.
“Fox admitted that in order to conceal his fraudulent conduct, he falsified his mandatory R.I. Board of Elections filings,” a press release from Neronha and Kilmartin states.

Fox also admitted to the court that in 2008, while serving as an appointed member and vice chairman of the Board of Licenses, he accepted a $52,000 bribe from the owners of Shark Sushi Bar and Grill to help it secure a liquor license.
Despite neighborhood opposition, the board approved the Shark Bar’s application.
In addition, Fox admitted to the court that for tax years 2008 through 2012, he filed false tax returns, in that he knowingly omitted personal income he received as a result of his receipt of the bribe in 2008 and his fraudulent transfers from his campaign accounts to his personal accounts.

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