PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr. takes credit for the revitalization of his hometown. Now a federal jury has decided he was also responsible for corruption taking place on his watch.
Cianci was convicted Monday of a racketeering conspiracy charge accusing him of masterminding a criminal scheme that took bribes for favors, including tax breaks, jobs and sweetheart deals on city-owned land.
But the jury of eight men and four women acquitted him on 11 other counts, determining that prosecutors never proved the mayor personally took bribes or extorted money.
"Outside of one event today, I was very happy and satisfied with what happened," Cianci told reporters at a news conference after the verdict.
He continued to maintain his innocence and vowed to appeal. The mayor, who has served off and on for nearly three decades, also said he planned to seek re-election this fall.
The mayor's co-defendants — longtime right-hand man Frank Corrente and tow-truck operator Richard Autiello — were convicted with him of racketeering conspiracy and other charges. The judge had earlier acquitted the fourth defendant of racketeering.
State Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse said hours after the verdict that Cianci, who is free on $50,000 bond, can remain in office until he is sentenced.
The judge set a sentencing date of Sept. 6. The maximum penalty for racketeering conspiracy is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Gov. Lincoln Almond, a former U.S. Attorney, reiterated his earlier call for the mayor to step down.
"I think the time has come to say the capital city cannot stand this type of corruption," Almond said.
Cianci, 61, was expressionless as most of the verdicts were read. But as the last two innocent findings were announced, he whispered to attorney Richard Egbert and flashed a quick smile.
Hours later, Cianci was asked about his tough talk after his April 2001 indictment, when he boldly told reporters, "You're not going to find any stains on this jacket."
"That stain hasn't stuck on the jacket yet," he said Monday.
Cianci, a stocky bachelor with a gift for gab, is the top cheerleader for the so-called "Providence renaissance," which brought hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements to the once-decaying downtown.
But lead prosecutor Richard Rose told the jury during closing arguments that the renaissance city was one where anything could be had for a price.
Defense attorneys countered by calling Cianci's accusers liars and thieves, and Egbert said one witness, former city tax official David Ead, was "a pig, plain and simple."
Cianci's trial was the biggest to come out of Operation Plunder Dome, the FBI's five-year investigation of City Hall graft.
A former prosecutor on the state's anti-corruption strike force, Cianci has been dogged by suspicion throughout his long and colorful career.
His first two terms after his election in 1974 were marred by the extortion and fraud convictions of 22 city workers. In 1984, his political career was sidetracked when he pleaded no contest to charges he beat his estranged wife's lover with a fireplace log. After spending his five-year suspended sentence working as a radio host, he returned to office in 1991.
Since then, eight associates have been convicted of various corruption charges stemming from the Plunder Dome probe.
Prosecutors presented a colorful array of witnesses who testified that city officials routinely shook them down to curry favor with the mayor.
Convicted felons boasted on surveillance tapes about their City Hall connections, and witnesses testified that they paid $5,000 bribes to Cianci for jobs with the city.
The government's star witness was businessman Antonio Freitas, who secretly recorded about 180 conversations with high-level city officials. At the FBI's direction, he paid bribes for tax breaks and city-brokered deals.
"It's a great day for Providence today," Freitas said, cradling a box with a bottle of champagne inside. He said he planned to open the $240 bottle of champagne he bought in Paris in 1998, "knowing that the day would come. It's here today."
One of the most celebrated witnesses in the trial never appeared on the stand: former tax board Chairman Joseph Pannone, who was caught on many of the Freitas tapes boasting about widespread corruption.
Pannone has twice pleaded guilty to charges related to Operation Plunder Dome. On the tapes, Pannone told Freitas that the mayor gave him advice on how to take bribes in exchange for favors and tax breaks from the city.
"That's how the city of Providence is run," Pannone told Freitas on one tape. "If you don't pay, forget it."