BOSTON – The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld the conviction of Robert A. Urciuoli, former president and CEO of Roger Williams Medical Center, on corruption charges involving the employment of former R.I. Sen. John A. Celona.
If he files no further appeals, Urciuoli could be ordered to report to a federal prison to serve his 36-month sentence within the next few weeks, according to a spokesman from U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha’s office in Providence.
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Urciuoli was convicted in Providence federal court in October 2008 of conspiracy and 35 counts of mail fraud for giving then-senator Celona about $260,000 in a six-year period to work against legislation harmful to Roger Williams hospital in Providence. The 35 counts of mail fraud correspond to each payment check mailed to Celona.
The 2008 conviction came after a three-week trial and four days of jury deliberation, and was the second conviction for Urciuoli on the same charges. A previous guilty verdict had been overturned and a new trial granted. He was sentenced in April 2009 to 36 months in prison and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.
Urciuoli then appealed the 2008 conviction on various grounds, all of which were rejected by the federal appeals court today in its 16-page ruling written by U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Boudin. The appeal was heard by Boudin, U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Howard and, sitting by designation, retired U.S. Supreme Court Judge David H. Souter.
The ruling relates how Celona, citing financial difficulties, asked Urciuoli for employment and subsequently signed a contract in February 1998 to market a RWMC-owned nursing home, Elmhurst Extended Care, and an assisted living facility, the Village at Elmhurst, partly owned by a RWMC subsidiary.
“Although Celona did some marketing for the Village, his efforts were fairly modest and his compensation substantial,” the court ruling noted.
The government charged that Celona was actually on the RWMC payroll to oppose certain bills in the General Assembly – including one, for instance, that became law and makes it difficult for a for-profit entity to acquire a nonprofit hospital – and to use his office space at the Statehouse for meetings with two major insurance companies: Blue Cross of Rhode Island and United Healthcare of New England.
Urciuoli argued in his appeal that the evidence introduced at his second trial was not sufficient for conviction.
The appeal court rejected that argument, noting evidence the government presented showed that Celona’s pay rose as his Elmhurst workload dropped; he reported to Urciuoli rather than Elmhurst officials; and his pay was covered by RWMC.
“From this and other evidence, a rational jury could find that Urciuoli’s purpose was for Celona to use his office on behalf of RWMC and that Celona did so, that the compensation nominally for marketing was in reality for Celona’s misuse of powers, and that the result was a conspiracy to deprive Rhode Island citizens of Celona’s honest services as a Rhode Island senator,” the ruling stated.
In another argument in his appeal, Urciuoli pointed to Rhode Island state law that allows “class exceptions.” These involve cases in which a lawmaker’s actions benefit his or her employer, but no conflict is deemed to exist if the benefit is no more than that obtained by other employers in the same class.
However, the court ruling noted, there is nothing in Rhode Island law that purports to authorize or protect bribery. “The class protection does not protect the conduct charged by the government,” the ruling said.
Finally, Urciuoli argued that Celona’s facilitation of meetings between the insurance companies and RWMC was not a misuse of the lawmaker’s official powers.
Yet, the court ruling said, evidence presented in the second trial showed that Celona used “the implicit threat of legislative action” in an attempt to pressure the insurance companies to resolve longstanding disputes over reimbursement in RWMC’s favor.
Celona at the time of the meetings had become chairman of a committee with considerable power over health care legislation, and both insurers were regularly concerned with bills pending before his panel, the court said.
Kenneth Madden, first assistant U.S. attorney in Providence, told Providence Business News that Urciuoli has been free on bond during his appeal. Madden said it is now up to the federal court to decide when and where he reports to serve his prison sentence.
If Urciuoli requests the appeals court for further reconsideration, that decision could be delayed, Madden said. If he does not, federal court in Providence within the next few weeks will either schedule a hearing to inform Urciuoli of the date he should report to prison or will issue an order for him to do so on a particular date. “I’m not sure of the timeframe,” Madden said. “It’s usually several weeks.”
