No charges in Providence bad check case

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The Attorney General’s office announced today it will not be pressing charges in the infamous bad check scandal that has plagued Providence Mayor David Cicilline’s administration.

In a statement released late Thursday afternoon, the Attorney General’s office said, “The evidence as it stands today simply does not give rise to provable criminal behavior on anyone’s part.”

The saga began in 2006 when John Cicilline, brother to the Providence Mayor, cut the city a bad check to cover a client’s delinquent tax bill. The tab, originally at $75,000, remains unpaid.

Mayor Cicilline fired former tax collector Robert Ceprano in the wake of the scandal. Ceprano responded with a $10 million wrongful termination lawsuit.

Lynch’s statement reveals the investigation was over on May 11th, but the Ceprano lawsuit, filed on May 13th, forced investigators to wait and see if new information would surface.

According to a letter sent to the Rhode Island State Police by the Attorney General’s Office outlining their decision, Assistant Attorney General Patrick Youngs writes:

“…while both John M. Cicilline and various employees of the City (who often seemed more concerned with shielding the Mayor from embarrassment than collecting the tax) handled the situation in an unprofessional, misguided, and at times inexplicable fashion, the evidence as it stands today simply does not give rise to provable criminal behavior on anyone’s part.”

The letter also reveals new information in the case. The State Police discovered there was never enough money in John Cicilline’s account to cover the check and “no one associated with the City ever, for whatever reason, attempted to negotiate either check.”

According to the letter, the basis behind the legal decision rests on the fact that there was no purchase of goods or services with the check to trigger the statute that would lead to prosecution.

John Cicilline is now in a federal prison for shaking down drug-dealing clients while he served as their as a lawyer.