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By PHILIP MARCELODecember 16, 2020 GMT
A former campaign aide to Democratic Rhode Island House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello has been cleared of criminal charges stemming from the 2016 campaign.
Jeff Britt, 52, was found not guilty Wednesday of felony money laundering as well as a misdemeanor charge of making a prohibited campaign contribution.
The verdict in the bench trial was handed down by Judge Daniel Procaccini in Kent County Superior Court in Warwick.
Procaccini said in his decision that prosecutors had failed to sufficiently prove Britt was guilty of either charge beyond a reasonable doubt. He also criticized the state’s money laundering statute in his remarks in court, calling it “constitutionally deficient.”
Itâs decision day in the money laundering trial of political operative Jeff Britt
He is facing a felony money laundering charge and a misdemeanor campaign finance violation.
By Dan McGowan Globe Staff,Updated December 16, 2020, 9:29 a.m.
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Jeffrey T. Britt, left, and his lawyer, former US Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, leave the Kent County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 10.Edward Fitzpatrick
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Did the Rhode Island attorney general overreach in the Britt money laundering case?
The defense lawyer for political operative Jeffrey T. Britt says the case was âoverchargedâ but the attorney general says, âThe principle is worth fighting for.â
By Edward Fitzpatrick Globe Staff,Updated December 16, 2020, 5:50 p.m.
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Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. NeronhaHandout (custom credit)/Handout
WARWICK, R.I. â As a federal and state prosecutor, he has placed a House speaker, a Central Falls mayor, and three crooked North Providence councilmen behind bars.
But a judgeâs rejection of the stateâs case against political operative Jeffrey T. Britt is raising the question of whether Attorney General Peter F. Neronha overreached in this case â and if Brittâs high-profile exoneration will undermine the message that the prosecution intended.
R.I. political operative Jeff Britt cleared of charges in money laundering trial
By Edward Fitzpatrick and Dan McGowan Globe Staff,Updated December 16, 2020, 10:58 a.m.
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Jeffrey T. Britt listens to Wednesday s verdict via video conference from his Florida location. A state Superior Court judge cleared the political operative of money laundering in a trial stemming from House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello s 2016 campaign.David DelPoio/The Providence Journal (Pool) (Custom credit)/David DelPoio
WARWICK, R.I. â A state judge on Wednesday cleared political operative Jeffrey T. Britt of all wrongdoing stemming from House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattielloâs 2016 re-election campaign, dismissing a felony money laundering charge and finding him not guilty of a misdemeanor campaign finance violation.