Rhode Island Attorney General's Office, Jeff Pine And The Infamous Narcotics Strike Force

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Below is a table showing suits filed in connection with abuses regarding the Attorney General's Infamous Narcotics Strike Force. The Plaintiff's last names and case numbers are:

Davock [98-186], Berouty [98-184], Vento [98-183], Pereira [98-187]

Also damaged was John Carraturo, Terry Collins, Michael Cribari, Brian Fortin, Joyce Laferriere and Ed Livingston.

See update.

Update
State pays out $219,500 in wrongful-arrest cases

The 10 people were arrested by the now discredited and disbanded attorney general's Drug Strike Force in 1995.

By W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI and MIKE STANTON - Journal Staff Writers

PROVIDENCE -- Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse announced yesterday that the state has agreed to pay out more than $200,000 in settlements to 10 people who were wrongly arrested by agents assigned to ex-Atty. Gen. Jeffrey B. Pine's Drug Strike Force. The settlements bring to a close one of the biggest law-enforcement scandals in recent Rhode Island history.

"Never in my 25 years as a lawyer have I seen this kind of settlement," said Brian Cunha, who represents two of the plaintiffs. "This sort of pattern of malfeasance, in case after case, usually doesn't happen. Police officers don't act this way, generally -- thank God."

Pine, now a lawyer in private practice, did not object to the state's decision. "I certainly defer to the judgment of [Whitehouse] on how to best resolve the cases," he said. "Basically, if anyone was wronged, they certainly deserve to be compensated fairly."

William Davock, owner of the Market Street Pub in Warren, settled for $25,000 after being wrongly arrested on cocaine charges. He spent a week in the Adult Correctional Institutions in April 1995.
Davock remains bitter toward the Strike Force and Pine, whom he called the "skipper of the ship." Nonetheless, he feels that he has come out on top. "The Strike Force members are cutting lawns someplace, Pine's chasing ambulances, and I'm still here," Davock said. "I know what they did. They know what they did, and God knows what they did."

Davock and 10 others filed civil-rights actions raising questions about the conduct of the Strike Force agents. The state reached out-of-court settlements with the group for a total of $219,500. The settlement amounts, which will be paid for by the state and the Interlocal Risk Management Trust, cover all damages and attorneys' fees.

In addition, the state paid for lawyers who represented Pine and the former Strike Force agents, who were codefendants in the suit. Those figures were not readily available yesterday, according to a spokesman at the attorney general's office.

Pine, who took office in 1993, transformed the Strike Force from a quiet unit that coordinated small drug investigations with local police into a paramilitary squad whose Ninja-hooded members kicked down doors and invited television cameras on raids. In late 1996, The Journal ran a series of stories raising questions about the backgrounds and actions of several agents working for the Strike Force.

Around that same time, Pine announced that he had disbanded the elite unit. Nonetheless, Pine's office continued to prosecute cases involving the testimony of an informant who had been exposed as a liar by setting up a man who had stolen his girlfriend.

In October 1998, a grand jury indicted former agents Michael McGreevy, Ronald House and Jonathan Cute, along with their one-time star informant Cesar Moreno, on federal civil-rights violations. They were charged with falsifying affidavits and witness statements to support the arrests of seven people in undercover drug operations in Warren, Woonsocket and Smithfield in 1994 and 1995.

Whitehouse, at the time, was the U.S. Attorney who brought the criminal charges against the agents. The FBI and the state police conducted the lengthy investigation. In January 1999, Moreno disappeared and a federal judge issued a warrant for his arrest. The authorities suspect that he fled to Colombia where he is a naturalized citizen. He remains at large. A few months later, a federal jury found McGreevy, House and Cute not guilty of any criminal charges.

Pine said at the time that he wasn't surprised by the verdict, and called the government's case "obviously weak."  Meanwhile, the civil suits pressed ahead. A point of contention was whether the attorney general's office would have to release internal memos that prosecutors had written that were critical of the Strike Force. The case settled before the issue could be resolved, and none of the memos were disclosed.

The key memo was written by a top Pine deputy, James W. Ryan, who warned the attorney general early in 1995 that the Strike Force was "spinning out of control." Ryan accused the man Pine had hired to run the Strike Force, former Middletown police Capt. Robert J. Sylvia, of deception and "extraordinary bad judgment." Ryan wrote Pine that he had ordered the revocation of one Strike Force agent's gun permit because of the agent's inexperience. But the agent, a former flight attendant who had been in hock to a mob loan shark, kept his gun.

Ryan was demoted by Pine a few months later -- after Sylvia complained to Pine about Ryan -- in what Pine called an office reorganization. It wasn't until more than a year later, after a defense lawyer offered proof in court that the Strike Force's key informant had lied, that the federal investigation began and Pine then disbanded the unit. Lawyers for some of the plaintiffs attempted to question Pine in a deposition last spring about what he knew and what he did about problems with the Strike Force. But Pine declined to answer, on the advice of his lawyer, saying that any such internal communications were privileged, Cunha said.

In addition to William Davock, those wrongly arrested and the amount of each settlement are as follows:

Kimberly Berouty, of Warren, $35,000. She was arrested on April 7, 1995, and charged with delivery of cocaine. She spent four days at the ACI. The charge was later dismissed.

John Carraturo, of Barrington, $10,000. He was arrested on April 8, 1995, and charged with delivery of cocaine and conspiracy to deliver cocaine. The charges were later dismissed.

Terry P. Collins, of Smithfield, $30,000. He was arrested on Dec. 1, 1995, and charged with two counts of delivery of marijuana, possession of marijuana and maintaining a narcotics nuisance. He pleaded no contest to the delivery of marijuana charge and got five years' probation. The plea was later vacated and the charges dismissed.

Michael J. Cribari, of Smithfield, $20,000. He was arrested on Dec. 1, 1995, and charged with possession of marijuana. The charge was later dismissed.

Brian Fortin, of Barrington, $9,500. He was arrested on April 7, 1995, and charged with delivery of cocaine and conspiracy. He spent two days at the ACI. The charges were later dismissed.

Joyce Laferriere, of Bristol, $10,000. She was arrested on April 7, 1995, and charged with conspiracy to deliver cocaine and delivery of cocaine. She spent two days at the ACI. She pleaded no contest to one charge and was sentenced to a year's probation. The plea was later vacated and the charges dismissed.

Edward Joseph Livingstone, of Warren, $25,000. He was arrested on April 11, 1995, and charged with delivery of cocaine and conspiracy. He spent 16 days at the ACI. The charges were later dismissed.

Lisa Pereira, of Warren, $43,000. She was arrested on April 7, 1995, and charged with delivery of cocaine and conspiracy. She spent four days at the ACI. She pleaded no contest to a felony charge and was sentenced to probation. The plea was later vacated and the charges dismissed.

Wendy A. Vento, of Bristol, $12,000. She was arrested on April 7, 1995, and charged with delivery of cocaine. She spent 30 days at the ACI. She later pleaded no contest to the charge and received a five-year suspended sentence.  Copyright © 2000 The Providence Journal Company