Search warrants
served but reason for action not revealed
By
Will Collette
Acting
on search warrants issued by the federal District Court in Providence, agents
from the Providence field office of the FBI, supported by State Police officers
and accompanied by agents of the IRS anti-corruption unit, entered and searched
Charlestown Town Hall, the homes of prominent town leaders and the heretofore secret
clubhouse of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA).
TV
film crews were also on hand to record the scene of agents hauling off
computers and boxes presumably containing documents seized as potential
evidence.
US
Attorney Peter Neronha would not comment on the specific reasons for the raid
other than to recite the general brief of his office to pursue crime and
corruption wherever it might be found. He would not confirm or deny whether the
raid was related to accusations that the ruling CCA
Party was trading town resources and favors for campaign contributions, a
practice commonly called “pay to play.”
Among
the sites searched by the agents was the home of Town Council Boss Tom Gentz.
Gentz was seen visibly upset after agents told him to get out of the house
while they conducted their search. He was seen garbed in his full-length bunny
pajamas as he watched agents carrying boxes of documents. Agents also
confiscated Gentz’s three lovingly restored antique Porsches.
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| Slattery remained defiant |
There
was a similar scene at the home of Councilor Dan Slattery. Slattery, garbed in
combat camouflage PJs, had to be physically restrained when agents took out
Slattery’s collection of files. He was heard yelling, “those are top
secret investigative files….you can’t look at them….you don’t have the
clearance….they’re mine, I tell you!”
When
agents hit the homes of Ill
Wind RI members on Partridge and Quail, group guru Ron Areglado quickly
grouped his followers into a passive resistance defense line where they lined
up in front of the government vehicles.
Several
had to be lifted out of the way after the Agent-in-Charge was overheard to give
the order to “remove these damned anonymous
abutters!” Areglado was arrested for impeding federal officers.
At
Town Hall, agents used a battering ram to break down the door to execute their
search warrant. After spending hours inside the building, agents emerged empty-handed
and shaking their heads.
A
source close to the investigation tells me that agents found that virtually no
records were being kept in Town Hall. Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz,
reached by phone at his home in Stoughton, MA, said town
records had been transferred into the custody of Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero
who is, by law, exempt from ever disclosing anything to anybody.
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| Central controller for Charlestown's computer system found in Tax Assessor Ken Swain's office |
The
agents were also stymied by the town’s
computer system which is apparently being run using the Atari Operating
System. Even the FBI’s best tech people couldn’t crack the system.
Throughout
the long hours while agents were engaged in the raid on Town Hall, a large
crowd of Narragansett Indians gathered across Route Two, yelling and
cheering. One tribal leader took a bullhorn and shouted out, “See how YOU like it, paleface,”
invoking memories of the 2003
State Police raid on the Narragansett smoke shop.
Agents
also attempted to serve a search warrant at the home of Planning Commissar Ruth
Platner and Zoning Board member Cliff Vanover, but could not find the home
since construction on it has yet to be completed.
One
of the targets of the raid, the long-hidden secret headquarters of the
Charlestown Citizens Alliance, proved to be more than the agents bargained for.
That entrance apparently leads to a maze of underground tunnels. When agents cut their way through the native shrubbery and then battered down the heavy oak door, they missed a trip wire stretched just beyond the entry only inches off the ground.
When
an agent tripped the wire, an alarm went off and a recorded message played at
100dB saying, “Intruder Alert. This
building will self-destruct in 15 seconds.”
As
the caravan of law enforcement agents loaded up and started leaving on the long
trek back to Providence, CCA Town Council member George Tremblay was heard to
say, “That’s an April first I’ll never
forget.”