Former N. Providence Town Council President Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Radio DJ’s and Town Councilmen must not get paid enough.

The Former North Providence Town Council President Robert A. Ricci has pled guilty to participating in an insurance fraud scheme. He helped to deliberately damage the house of a radio host in order to get the payout money from an insurance company.

According to The Providence Journal, Ricci, who left the council in 2006, got caught up in the same federal investigation that nabbed three North Providence councilmen for bribery and extortion.

During his court appearance on June 1^st in front of Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi in the U.S. District Court, Ricci pled guilty to one charge of conspiracy and four counts of mail fraud. He had earlier pled not guilty to the indictments after they were doled out in November of 2010.

Ricci admitted to working with then Town Councilman John A. Zambarano and Vincent O. DiPaolo, an unlicensed public insurance adjuster, in April of 2010. They were damaging the house of Lori Sergiacomi, who was known as Tanya Cruise while on the local station, LiteRock 105 FM.

Sergiacomi, who was also indicted as part of the fraud case, was set to change her plea in a court hearing on the 3^rd.

The scheme developed, according to the federal indictment, after Sergiacomi learned that her homeowners insurance would not cover basement cleanup costs from flooding in late March 2010.

Federal authorities learned of the plan during wiretaps as part of the investigation into payoffs to Zambarano and two other councilman in return for favorable votes in 2009 and 2010 on two zoning matters.

When the insurance fraud took place, Ricci was a hearing officer for the Rhode Island Contractor’s Registration and Licensing Board.

According to the indictment, that role had him hearing contested claims and dealing with conflicts over enforcement and administrative fines.

Ricci also reportedly owned and operated R.A.R. Building and Home Improvement, through which he often worked with Zambarano on home repair jobs. The two men were also on the Town Council together for several years.

The plan was for Zambarano, who at the time was working in the maintenance department for the state Department of Corrections, to damage the roof of Sergiacomi’s house. He was also supposed to rip the liner of her swimming pool with a tree branch so he could set up an insurance claim. He and Ricci would then also get the job of re-roofing the house.

With guidance from her accomplices, Sergiacomi and DiPaolo, according to the indictment, filed a claim for nearly $50,000 that blamed the damage on a fictitious windstorm. Zambarano, who was allied with Ricci during his years on the council, had done work in the past for Sergiacomi’s parents, from whom she inherited the house. After hearing about her situation following the flood, Zambarano had persuaded Sergiacomi to file the bogus claim instead of seeking loan assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Unbeknownst to him, Zambarano was under FBI surveillance at the time, therefore some of his telephone calls were recorded.  Woops?

On May 17^th he was sentenced to 71 months in prison for his role in the insurance fraud scam, which will run concurrent to a similar sentence for bribery and extortion that he obtained while on the Town Council.

Ricci faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and up to 20 years on each of the five mail fraud charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25^th.