How did other cities react when their mayors were indicted? Just look to R.I.

R.I. history shows there is no one way to address an indicted mayor

FALL RIVER — FBI agents confronted the mayor, put him in handcuffs and dragged him to court.

That was in Pawtucket, 27 years ago.

What happened next will shock you.

“We kind of stripped the mayor of all his powers,” said Kevin Rabbitt, who was on the city council on June 12, 1991, when then mayor Brian Sarault was arrested by the FBI on charges of accepting a bribe.

“We basically boxed Brian Sarault out,” Rabbitt said. “Ray Houle, the council president, became the acting mayor. He ran the show.

“Within four or five days, Ray Houle was in the mayor’s office and Brian was out. We didn’t even allow Brian Sarault into his office. We had a police officer at the door.”

Sarault, a young and charismatic mayor, was arrested after he accepted cash from a state representative, Robert Weygand, who had a contract with the city as a landscape architect. Weygand was working with the FBI. He wore a wire and bills were marked.

Before Sarault plead guilty, on Nov. 14, 1991, he was indicted twice more on additional charges. Most of his department heads resigned and several were indicted as well.

“We were gravely concerned, and correctly so, in retrospect, about possible damage to the city,” said William Lynch, who was also on the council in Pawtucket at the time. Lynch, then, was running in the Democratic primary for mayor against Sarault.

Council members met within days with Lincoln Almond, who was then the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island. Then they hired lawyers R. Robert Popeo and Richard Rose to do their own investigation and represent the city council.

“It was hard because, at the time, most of the council supported Brian,” Lynch said. “They were behind him in his re-election.

“But, in fairness, every member of the council stood up and did the right thing. The charges were so serious, and there was such concern for the city, that we had to.”

Sarault resigned as mayor the day after he pled guilty in U.S. District Court. He ended up serving five and a half years in federal custody.

“He stayed in office until right after the election in Pawtucket,” Lynch said. “Right through the election, he said it was all political and he was innocent.”

In Providence, right next door, Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci was running the show in the capital city in the spring of 2001 when the FBI arrested him on corruption charges.

He ran the show after his arrest, according to Mike Stanton, who led the coverage of the arrest for the Providence Journal. He then wrote a book about it.

“Buddy was always a showman,” Stanton said. “He was never one for the nitty-gritty of government. He continued to be a showman. He continued to go to parades. He continued to give speeches.”

The council did nothing to intervene, Stanton, now a journalism professor at the University of Connecticut, said.

“Buddy never backed down,” he said. “There was no real opposition on the city council. There was no vote of no confidence. He had a real choke hold on the city. There was no strong opposition calling on him to step down.”

Cianci went to trial on 27 charges. He was acquitted on 26 counts and convicted on one count of racketeering. He spent five years in federal custody.

He proclaimed his innocence throughout.

As did Sarault, which backfired on him.

At Sarault’s sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Ernest Torres added nine months to the federal sentencing guidelines, sentencing Sarault to 66 months.

The added time was for the harm he did to Pawtucket by staying in office while awaiting trial, the judge said.

Email Kevin P. O’Connor at koconnor@heraldnews.com.