Who's who in Operation Plunder Dome: A quick guide to the major players
Operation Plunder Dome 鈥 the April 28, 1999, FBI raid on Providence City Hall that signaled the downfall of Mayor Vincent 鈥淏uddy鈥 Cianci (well, the second downfall) 鈥 grew to encompass quite a cast of characters. 听
From the charismatic Cianci himself to his top aides, an undercover informant, city officials, prosecutors and judges, here鈥檚 a quick guide on who鈥檚 who in the case:
THE DEFENDANTS 听
Buddy Cianci 听
Providence鈥檚 longest-serving mayor, Vincent 鈥淏uddy鈥 Cianci is one of the most iconic figures in Providence politics. He was first elected mayor in 1974, survived a federal corruption probe in the 1980s that brought down dozens of other city officials, and resigned in 1984 after pleading no contest to assaulting his estranged wife鈥檚 alleged lover with a lit cigarette and a fireplace log. 听
By 1991, he was back in office and helped lead what is widely known as Providence鈥檚 鈥淩enaissance phase鈥濃 which saw the start of WaterFire, the arrival of the Providence Bruins hockey team, and the construction and opening of the Providence Place mall. 听
But by 1999, corruption once again caught up with Cianci with the execution of Operation Plunder Dome, the FBI鈥檚 undercover investigation into, as The Journal鈥檚 reporting at the time put it, Cianci鈥檚 running of City Hall as a criminal enterprise. Cianci was indicted in April 2001 and ultimately convicted of racketeering conspiracy and sentenced to five years in prison 鈥 though he was acquitted on 11 other Plunder Dome charges. 听
Cianci unsuccessfully tried to mount another comeback in 2014 by running for mayor, but lost to Mayor Jorge Elorza. In 2016, he died of colon cancer. 听
Frank E. Corrente听
Corrente was Cianci鈥檚 former director of administration at the time of the Plunder Dome raid and was Cianci鈥檚 鈥渞ight hand man,鈥 according to Journal accounts at the time. City contracts, hiring, promotions and other personnel decisions flowed through him, and he was also Cianci鈥檚 campaign director. 听
Corrente was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy and five other counts, including bribery conspiracy and attempted extortion related to Operation Plunder Dome. He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.听
Corrente died in March 2023 at the age of 94. 听
David C. Ead 听
听Ead was one of the first city officials arrested in Operation Plunder Dome. The vice chairman of the city鈥檚 Board of Tax Assessment Review at the time, Ead was arrested in the initial April 28, 1999, raid. 听
He eventually agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, pleading guilty and testifying that he'd arranged more than $25,000 in bribes for Cianci. For his cooperation, he avoided jail time. 听
Ead died in April 2014. 听
Joseph A. Pannone 听
Like Ead, Pannone was arrested in the initial Operation Plunder Dome raid, as he was the chairman of the city鈥檚 Board of Tax Assessment Review. 听
Pannone pleaded guilty to 14 felony charges and agreed to cooperate in the investigation; however, in January 2000, prosecutors attempted to revoke Pannone鈥檚 agreement because, as Journal reporting stated at the time, he had failed to 鈥渇ully cooperate.鈥 His plea was allowed to stand, and, at 77, he was sentenced to five years in prison, one of the longest sentences for Plunder Dome defendants. 听
Richard E. Autiello 听
Autiello was a garage owner in Providence at the time, and his company, Four A鈥檚, held the multimillion-dollar contracts to do all preventative maintenance and small cosmetic repairs on the city鈥檚 police fleet for nearly a decade leading up to Plunder Dome. 听
Autiello was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of bribery conspiracy and was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison.听 听
Autiello died in Florida in March 2023 at the age of 94. 听
Anthony E. Annarino听
Annarino was Providence tax collector at the time of Operation Plunder Dome and was charged with conspiracy, attempted extortion and mail fraud. The grand jury also accused Pannone of conspiring with Annarino to wipe out interest charges on late property-tax payments.听
听He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for taking bribes to waive the interest on property taxes.听
Annarino died in July 2017 at the age of 72. 听
Rosemary H. Glancy 听
Glancy was the city鈥檚 deputy tax assessor at the time of Plunder Dome and was charged with attempted extortion, conspiracy and mail fraud. 听
She was found guilty on two counts of attempted extortion, two counts of conspiracy and three counts of mail fraud and听was sentenced to 33 months in prison. 听
Shortly afterward, Glancy was awarded compassionate release because of her ill health. 听
In an interview with The Journal in October 2000, at her hospital bed, she told the paper that she 鈥渃onsidered herself a victim of City Hall power brokers,鈥 according to her Associated Press obituary.听
She died in January 2001. 听
Angelo A. Mosca Jr.听
Mosca was a Providence lawyer at the time who pleaded guilty to extortion charges after admitting he'd arranged a $10,000 bribe that made its way from a client to Cianci, according to previous Journal reports. He was disbarred in 2002. 听
John A. Scungio 听
Scungio was a Providence lawyer who pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents. He was sentenced to home confinement and fined $40,000. 听
Artin H. Coloian 听
Coloian was Cianci鈥檚 chief of staff at the time of Operation Plunder Dome. 听
He was charged with bribery and conspiracy for allegedly accepting a $5,000 bribe to get another person a job in the city鈥檚 Planning Department. He was acquitted on all charges. 听
THE PROSECUTION听
Antonio R. Freitas听
Freitas was the government鈥檚 star witness in Operation Plunder Dome, having worked undercover with the FBI for about a year taping more than 100 hours of conversations with public officials and capturing video footage of them accepting bribes. 听
Freitas worked closely with FBI Agent W. Dennis Aiken, who would supply him with cash to offer as bribes to city officials. 听
Freitas ran JKL Engineering, a heating and air conditioning company, and was given the undercover code name 鈥淢r. Freon.鈥澨
Freitas died in December 2022 at the age of 73. 听
U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Curran听
Curran was the top prosecutor on the Operation Plunder Dome cases and the conviction of Cianci. 听
She was appointed U.S. attorney for Rhode Island in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and stepped down from her post in 2003 after a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. 听
She鈥檚 remained politically active in Rhode Island since then, serving on various boards, including as chair of the Public Utilities Commission and as chair of the Health Benefits Exchange Advisory Board. 听
W. Dennis Aiken听
One of the FBI鈥檚 foremost experts on public corruption, Aiken led the undercover investigation known as Operation Plunder Dome, working as Antonio Freitas鈥 handler as he secretly recorded city officials on video and audio taking bribes. 听
Aiken retired from the FBI in 2007. 听