Former Central Falls Senator Fined For Campaign Cash Violations

PROVIDENCE — A former state lawmaker who lost her bid for re-election last year has been fined $6,000 after an audit found more than $11,000 in undocumented cash withdrawals from her campaign account.

The R.I. Board of Elections issued the fine this week to former Sen. Elizabeth “Betty” Crowley, the District 16 Democrat who represented areas of Central Falls and Pawtucket from 2008 to 2020. Crowley lost in last year’s primary to progressive challenger and now-senator Jonathon Acosta.

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The state election board’s campaign finance director initiated the audit after noticing expenses listed in Crowley’s year-end report for 2019 that didn’t line up with her campaign account’s bank statement, WPRI-TV 12 News is reporting. The audit report (pdf) found more than $3,000 in deposits that didn’t show up on campaign finance reports, nearly $15,000 in cash withdrawals compared with only $3,722 in valid expenses, and around $4,000 in campaign expenses paid with non-campaign dollars.

House Minority Leader Rep. Blake Filippi on Twitter today suggested that the fine was not adequate:

A $6,000 penalty for appx. $11,000 in accounted cash withdrawals is no deterrent. https://t.co/bJD8HQUNuD
— Rep. Blake Filippi (@Blake_Filippi) April 8, 2021

Crowley, 69, admitted to WPRI that she was wrong, insisted that she did not use any of the money for personal expenses, said she had a habit of handing out cash to homeless people without getting receipts. “My regret is that I’m a sloppy bookkeeper,” she said.

Crowley, a 1993 graduate of the Municipal Clerk Institute at Salve Regina University, is a former Central Falls City Clerk who retired after working for the city for 40 years, according to a biography that is still posted on the Rhode Island State Senate website.

Read More At WPRI-TV