Hospital Officials’ Convictions Overturned, Retrial Announced

The First US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned the convictions of Robert A. Urciuoli, former president and CEO of Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island, and former hospital vice president Frances Driscoll. The two were convicted of honest services mail fraud in October 2006 in connection with allegedly hiring (now former) state Sen. John Celona to improperly influence legislation. The court found that US District Judge Ernest Torres erred in his jury instructions by allowing the jury to consider conduct which might not constitute a federal crime. Celona, who pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud and received a 30 month federal prison sentence last year, had testified for the prosecution; the hospital avoided prosecution by agreeing to oversight.

On Tuesday in Providence, USA Robert Clark Corrente announced that his office will retry Urciuoli and Driscoll “as soon as the court can accommodate us.” The Providence Business News stories are here and here.