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July 30, 2007

3 ex-Smithfield council presidents urge Tocco to quit

SMITHFIELD -- Citing "criminal involvement" in bribery and the turmoil that has gripped town government lately, three former Town Council presidents today called upon the current president, Stephen G. Tocco, to resign.

“More and more we feel that a cruel hoax has been perpetrated on the voters of Smithfield,” the former presidents wrote in a letter addressed to Tocco. “We are certain that your continued presence on the Smithfield Town Council will result in further erosion of public confidence in our government and further deterioration of our quality of life and the superior town government that previous councils, Republican and Democrat, have worked so hard to build over the last generation.”

The letter was signed by John F. Emin, a council member for 18 years, 14 as president; Richard A. Poirier, a member for 12 years, two of them as president; and Alberto J. LaGreca Jr., a member for 12 years, eight as president. All are Republicans. Tocco is a Democrat.

Poirier said he delivered the letter to Town Hall today. He said he tried unsuccessfully to contact Michael R. McGuinn, a Democrat and former council president. He said other former presidents live out of town.

An attempt by The Journal to reach McGuinn also was unsuccessful.

The ex-presidents joined James W. Archer, chairman of the Smithfield Republican Town Committee, in seeking Tocco’s ouster.

Archer said last month, "I find it distressing that someone who is president of the Smithfield Town Council spent two years of his life not only delivering bribes to public officials in two cities, but personally overbilled the City of Providence to get money to cover the bribes."

-- Journal staff writer Thomas J. Morgan

Tocco’s tenure as chief began decaying after a reporter requested archive material from the U.S. District Court.

According to the transcript of the 1993 trial of Gary Garafano, then deputy public works director in Providence, Tocco, who at the time was a Capitol Police officer and an employee of a construction company, testified against the defendant under a grant of immunity so as to avoid prosecution.

He testified that he acted as a bagman who delivered bribes to officials in Pawtucket and Providence from the construction company.

Tocco described on the witness stand how he had negotiated bribes and carried thousands of dollars’ worth on a number of occasions both to Garafano and to Louis S. Simon, public works director in Pawtucket during the administration of former Mayor Brian J. Sarault in the 1980s. Simon and Sarault pleaded guilty and served jail terms.

In June, Tocco dismissed his role in the briberies as “something that happened in the ‘90s.” He added, “I’ve got no record.”

He said that he and Forte Bros., the company for which he worked, had been the victims in the case, and that to have refused to pay the bribes would have meant being shut off from city contracts.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:35 PM | Permalink

July 30, 2007

3 ex-Smithfield council presidents urge Tocco to quit

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