Martineau slated for release from prison

PROVIDENCE – Former R.I. House Majority Leader Gerard Martineau was scheduled to be released from federal custody last week.
The Associated Press reported that Martineau was to be released from a community-corrections program in Philadelphia.
Martineau, who sold paper and plastic bags, pleaded guilty in November 2007 to charges of using his political influence to defeat legislation opposed by major customers, CVS Caremark Corp. and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. Operating as the Upland Group, he had arranged to sell paper bags to hold customers’ prescriptions to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island for use as promotional items, and had arranged to sell paper and plastic bags to the pharmacy company, prosecutors said. He sold the bags in lots of 1 million to 3 million, at a price of $19,500 per million.
After beginning to sell the promotional items, Martineau announced he had changed his position on the so-called Pharmacy Freedom of Choice measure – a bill opposed by both client companies.
He was sentenced in 2008 to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 for his role in the Operation Dollar Bill influence-peddling scandal. &#8226