RI Man Jailed For Trying To Run Over FBI Agent Plus $830K Fraud Case

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Rhode Island man who cheated food distributors out of more than $830,000 worth of seafood and prime cuts of meat and tried to run over an FBI agent investigating him was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Paul Diogenes, 50, of Providence, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and assault of a federal officer.

Diogenes used stolen banking information from various businesses and a fake catering company to steal $831,572 worth of lobster, sea bass, shrimp, scallops, filet, rib eye steak, and wild boar, most of which he resold to area businesses.

Sometimes, Diogenes sold the ill-gotten products to the same business whose stolen banking information he used to gain credit from food distributors.

On Aug. 3, 2021, FBI agents tried to arrest Diogenes behind an East Providence business. During the pursuit, Diogenes rammed his car into two FBI task force vehicles, one with a task force officer and a Rhode Island State Police trooper inside.

He then drove his car toward an FBI agent, who narrowly avoided serious injury. Then he rammed his car into a delivery van parked nearby before speeding away.

The U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI found Diogenes nine days later at a hotel in Middleborough, Massachusetts. He was in possession of a briefcase containing $116,404 in cash, which was forfeited to the government.

In addition to the prison sentence, Diogenes was ordered to serve three years of federal supervised release and pay restitution totaling $831,572.