Updated: On Nine Felony Charges Raymond Gallison Has Agreed to Plead Guilty

BRISTOL, RI—Former state Rep. Ray Gallison has been indicted for corruption, U.S. Atty. Gen. Peter Kilmartin said today. Kilmartin and U.S. Atty. Peter Neronha discussed the charges at a Monday morning press conference.

He is facing nine felony charges and will serve a minimum of two years, Neronha said.

Related Story: AG Kilmartin: 'Raymond Gallison was greedy. Pure and simple.'

Gallison waived the indictment and agreed to plead guilty to federal mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and filing false tax return charges.

A press release, which was issued later, indicated Gallison, 64, "will admit to wide-ranging fraudulent and deceptive conduct to steal private money and hide his misuse of public money, and covering his tracks while doing so.

"Gallison will admit to the theft of funds from the estate of a deceased individual to which he was appointed executor; theft of funds from a Special Needs Trust established to protect the long-term welfare of a disabled individual to which he was appointed trustee; providing false information on tax documents, including vastly inflating the number of students assisted by a non-profit organization funded by public money while failing to disclose amounts paid by that organization to him; and failure to pay taxes on income derived from his criminal actions.

"Also, Neronha and Kilmartin today announced the filing of a federal Information charging Raymond E. Gallison, Jr., with four (4) counts of mail fraud; one (1) count of wire fraud; one (1) count of aggravated identity theft; one (1) count of aiding the filing of a false tax document; and two (2) counts of filing a false tax return. According to a Plea Agreement filed in this matter, Gallison will serve, at a minimum, two years in federal prison.

"According to signed documents filed with the Court, Gallison will admit that:

"As executor of an estate of an individual from Barrington, R.I., who passed away in February 2012, he devised and executed various schemes to steal or transfer to his own name and bank accounts, cash, checks, stocks and real property belonging to the deceased person and/or his estate, valued at a total of $677,957.06. Gallison will admit that he fraudulently used the name and social security number of the deceased person to execute a scheme to cause the liquidation of certain stocks belonging to the deceased person;

"He caused the filing of a false tax document on behalf of Alternative Education Programming (AEP), a non-profit organization which provided educational programs to students who may need assistance with course work, and/or minority and/or disadvantaged students who may need financial or other assistance to gain an education, and of which Gallison was listed as Assistant Director. The tax document listed that $77,957 in tuition and related fees and expenses were paid for 47 students from July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013. In fact, on behalf of AEP, Gallison paid only $3,137.29 to assist 2 students during that year and paid approximately $64,575 to himself and another person in wages and consulting fees for no work undertaken on AEP’s behalf;

"As trustee for a disabled person’s Special Needs Trust, he defrauded the Trust by writing a check from the Trust account for $8,900, which he deposited into an AEP account. Gallison then wrote a check for $8,800 from the AEP account to pay an outstanding bill at the Community College of Rhode Island; and

"He failed to claim a total of $622,286.17 in income on joint IRS tax returns for tax years 2012 and 2013, and, as a result of his relevant conduct from 2012-2015, Gallison failed to pay a total of $226,332.31 in taxes.

"An information is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Among the charges, Neronha said, Gallison allegedly stole money to pay CCRI a debt owed by a non-profit he directed and also filed a false federal tax document related to the non-profit, ADP. He said he intended to repay the money but did not do so timely, Neronha indicated. Between July 2012 and June 2013, ADP had supposedly paid tuition on behalf of dozens of students when in reality, tuition was paid for only two students. The rest of the money Gallison used to pay himself and a consultant.

The legal problems and questions swirling around Bristol's Raymond E. Gallison, Jr., came to a head this morning in the U.S. Attorney's office.

Gallison resigned his seat in the state House of Representatives on May 3. In the one sentence to House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, Gallison said he was resigning his District 69 seat, "for personal reasons." The resignation was effective immediately.

Shortly after, the General Assembly was mired in a controversy over legislative grants, which appeared to be going in some cases into questionable organizations. Gallison was executive director of Alternative Educational Programming, a non-profit organization, which received $2 million in taxpayer money from such grants.

The General Assembly last spring scuttled the legislative grants program amid calls for reform.

Over the summer, the FBI seized almost $1 million from accounts Gallison controlled.

Earlier this month, new questions emerged about a will, which Gallison had executed for a friend and former Barrington resident, Ray Medley. He is accused of transferring more than $600,000 to his own accounts, but at the press conference, Neronha indicated most of the money was in stocks and has been recovered. There is a difference of about $60,000, which the government will pursue.

Court papers on Gallison's charges are being filed later today.

Gallison becomes the third former state representative to be indicted in the past few weeks. Last week, former Cranston Rep. Peter Palumbo was charged with taking money illegally from his campaign finance fund and with filing a false document. On Jan. 12, former Providence state Rep. John Carnevale turned himself into state police. He was charged with perjury and filing a false document in connection to testimony he gave to the Providence Board of Canvassers.

Related Story: Former Cranston State Rep. Peter Palumbo Faces Embezzlement Charge

Related Story: RI House Finance Chair Under Investigation Resigns

The Patch will update this story as information develops.