Lawyer seeks new pension hearing before judge

PROVIDENCE—A lawyer for Providence Mayor David Cicilline asked a judge on Wednesday to hold a new hearing on the partial pension awarded to a former city official convicted of corruption.

Frank Corrente, a former top aide to ex-Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, was awarded a partial pension by the city retirement board last year despite being convicted in 2002 of accepting a cash bribe - a transaction recorded by an undercover FBI tape.

Cicilline, who succeeded Cianci, is challenging the board’s decision in Providence Superior Court, where his lawyer, R. Kelly Sheridan, said the pension award must be subject to a court review and should be considered merely a recommendation until signed off on by a judge.

Under the city’s honorable services ordinance, he said, the retirement board must go to court anytime it decides to reduce or revoke a public official’s pension.

But Judge Michael Silverstein questioned whether he had jurisdiction to overrule the board.

“What is the sense of taking the time of the 13 people on the board for nothing?“ Silverstein asked. He did not indicate when he would rule.

Raymond Marcaccio, a lawyer for the retirement board, noted that the board’s decision followed detailed evidentiary hearings and relied on the recommendation of a law professor used as a consultant. He argued against treating the board’s decision as a mere recommendation.

“It would nullify all of the work by the board itself,“ Marcaccio said.

Corrente was a key figure in a federal probe into Providence City Hall, dubbed Operation Dollar, that also brought down Cianci. He served more than four years in federal prison for crimes including racketeering.

In August, the pension board, acting on the recommendation of a hearing officer, awarded Corrente a $1,852.61 monthly pension for his first 20 years in city government, from 1967 to 1987. The board
said he was not entitled to a pension from 1990 to 1999, during which the crimes occurred.

Larry Ritchie, the hearing officer in the Corrente case, said Corrente would have to repay money he owes the city’s retirement system before he could collect any of his pension.