PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted a developer and his company in a corruption probe that has already resulted in the conviction of three former North Providence town councilmen.
The indictment alleges that Churchill & Banks Co., and its CEO, Richard Baccari Sr., paid a $50,000 bribe to the councilmen through middleman Robert Ciresi.
In exchange, they agreed to zoning changes so he could build a supermarket.
Baccari and his company were each charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of bribery.
Messages left for Baccari and his lawyer were not immediately returned. A lawyer for the company said he had not seen the indictment and could not comment.
Former Town Councilmen John Zambarano, Joseph Burchfield and Raymond Douglas III, pleaded guilty in the scheme in 2011. Ciresi was convicted in 2011.