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| Former Providence Mayor Reassigned to Federal Prison in N.J. |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/09/2002 |
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Former Mayor Vincent ''Buddy'' Cianci Jr. has been reassigned to a federal prison in New Jersey so he can be closer to his daughter while she undergoes drug treatment. U.S. Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., received a letter November 25 from Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, who said Cianci was reassigned to the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix. ''We believe that Mr. Cianci's designation to FCI Fort Dix ... will help him maintain family ties and assist with his daughter's recovery,'' Hawk Sawyer wrote. Cianci, 61, was sentenced in September to five years and four months in prison for a corruption conviction. He was to report this week to the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in eastern Ohio. But local political leaders, including Langevin and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, intervened on Cianci's behalf, asking that he be reassigned because his drug-dependent daughter relies on him for financial support. ''This wasn't for the mayor. This was for Nicole Cianci and her two children,'' said Kennedy, D-R.I. ''Mayor Cianci will still be serving his time, but at least it won't have as adverse an impact on his children or his grandchildren.'' Nicole Cianci, 28, is rehabilitating at a drug treatment center in Exeter after Providence police found her wandering incoherently around the city in September, a few days after Cianci's sentencing. Her two children, ages 5 and 8, are living with Cianci's ex-wife, Sheila Bentley. Cianci did not answer calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. Talk-show host Arlene Violet, a former attorney general, accused the ex-mayor of exploiting his daughter's drug addiction to get a more advantageous prison assignment. Her comments sparked a war of words between Violet and Cianci, who has been co-hosting a radio show on a rival station. Cianci accused Violet of spreading lies and warned her to stop meddling in his family affairs. Cianci was the city's longest-serving mayor, steering Providence through its celebrated ''renaissance,'' which saw a boom in downtown development and a flourishing of the local arts scene. But he was convicted of racketeering conspiracy in June, following a seven-week trial in which prosecutors portrayed his Providence as ''a city for sale,'' where bribes were routinely paid to top city officials. He resigned in September on the day he was sentenced. Cianci appealed the conviction and is awaiting a ruling on his request to stay out of prison while the appeal in heard. If the motion is denied, he will be required to turn himself in at Fort Dix on Dec. 6. |
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