Former City Council president pleads no contest to embezzlement, steps down

PROVIDENCE – Former City Council President Luis Aponte pleaded no contest to a felony count of embezzlement in R.I. Superior Court, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced July 29.

As part of his plea, Aponte is required to step down from his position on the council. Aponte resigned from his position of council president in 2017 following his indictment but remained on the panel.

Aponte, 56, was sentenced to a 4½-year suspended sentence with 4½ years of probation.

A no contest plea is an acceptance of conviction without the admission of guilt by the defendant.

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The state said that if the case had gone to trial, it was ready to prove that Aponte used $13,942 from his campaign account on personal expenses such as Netflix, Xbox Live, iTunes, cable bills and gas.

Aponte became the city’s first Latino council president in 2015.

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