Gallison pleads guilty to stealing from a dead person’s estate, fraud

FORMER STATE representative Raymond E. Gallison Jr. has agreed to plead guilty to nine criminal charges related to stealing from a dead person’s estate and a special-needs trust, committing fraud and falsifying documents.  / COURTESY R.I. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
FORMER STATE representative Raymond E. Gallison Jr. has agreed to plead guilty to nine criminal charges related to stealing from a dead person’s estate and a special-needs trust, committing fraud and falsifying documents. / COURTESY R.I. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

PROVIDENCE – Former state representative Raymond E. Gallison Jr. has agreed to plead guilty to nine criminal charges related to stealing from a dead person’s estate and a special-needs trust, committing fraud and falsifying documents.

Gallison, 64, signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors announced Monday, admitting to “wide ranging fraudulent and deceptive conduct to steal private money and hide his misuses of public money and covering his tracks while doing so,” according to court documents. The former chairman of the R.I. House Finance Committee, which has powerful oversight of the state’s fiscal budget, was charged with four counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of aiding the filing of a false tax document and two counts of filing a false tax return, according to the U.S. District Attorney of Rhode Island office.

Gallison, who was appointed executor of a Barrington resident’s estate, has admitted to stealing assets from the estate totaling $677,957 after the individual died in 2012. He has admitted to using the person’s name and social security number to execute the scheme, which includes the liquidation of various stocks in such companies as ExxonMobil, Kraft, Pepsico, Pfizer, Phillip Morris and more.

Gallison is also admitting to falsifying tax documents and failing to disclose about $64,575 paid to “himself and another person” by Alternative Education Programming, a nonprofit that received public funds and was designed to help educate disadvantaged students.
The nonprofit also was used to funnel about $8,900 from a special-needs trust, which was set up to support a disabled person. Gallison, who was appointed trustee of the special-needs trust, subsequently wrote a check to himself totaling $8,800 from the nonprofit, which was used to pay an outstanding bill at the Community College of Rhode Island, according to court documents.

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In tax years 2012 and 2013, Gallison failed to report $622,286 in income from the criminal activity, allowing him to sidestep about $226,332 in taxes.

The Bristol Democrat, who resigned from office midway through last year’s legislative session, after reports surfaced saying he was the subject of state and federal investigations, is the second high-ranking Rhode Island politician to admit to criminal charges within the last two years. Former R.I. House Speaker Gordon D. Fox in 2015 admitted to accepting bribes in exchange for political favors.

“It has happened again,” said a statement from Common Cause Rhode Island, a government watchdog group. “While important steps have been taken in recent years, including restoring the jurisdiction of the state’s Ethics Commission over lawmakers, more needs to be done to restore public trust in our legislature.”

In light of Monday’s news, Common Cause is requesting the Ethics Commission, which voters approved to re-establish during November’s election, audit the financial disclosure statements of all members of the R.I. General Assembly.

“Rhode Island can no longer afford to wait for law enforcement to step in and clean up the mess after the public trust has been betrayed,” said John Marion, Common Cause executive director, in a statement. “The people of Rhode Island deserve to know that legislators are obeying the law before it rises to the criminal offense and people suffer.”

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, called the Gallison news “disappointing,” saying “no one should enter public service in the pursuit of personal gain.

“Rhode Islanders deserve to have faith in their government and trust that their elected leaders will never use their public position to enrich themselves,” she said. “Today’s disappointing news puts that faith at risk and requires all of us in public service to reaffirm our commitment to the public trust.”

The sentiment was echoed by R.I. House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, who released a statement commending state and federal prosecutors and criticizing illicit behavior among politicians.

“Elected officials must be held to the highest standard,” Mattiello said in a statement. “When they cross the line, they should be investigated and prosecuted.”

When asked whether Mattiello would support an ethics measure to audit lawmakers’ financial disclosure statements, spokesman Larry Berman replied: “Speaker Mattiello believes the Ethics Commission should do whatever they deem to be appropriate.”
The plea agreement will next go before a federal judge for a ruling and sentencing.

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