Former Bristol senior center director reaches plea agreement, gets probation

Former Bristol Senior Center Director Maria Ursini reached a plea agreement with the Town of Bristol, which agreed to drop two felony counts against her, in exchange for accepting a lesser misdemeanor charge and being placed on probation for a year. The agreement was entered in Sixth District Court on Dec. 12, before Judge Pamela Pfeiffer.

In exchange for the town declining to pursue two felony counts of Obtaining Monies Under False Pretenses, and Embezzlement. Ms. Ursini pleaded to a misdemeanor charge of Providing False Document to a Public Official, allowing her not to admit guilt, but to pay the Town of Bristol restitution and accept a one-year filing, which mandates her to keep the peace and be of good behavior for the following year. The agreement was negotiated between the Attorney General’s Office, the Town Solicitor, and Ms. Ursini’s counsel. That restitution is $698.43.

The Bristol Police Department was informed by Town Hall in late May of 2017 that Maria Ursini was engaged in actions with regard to her work as the Bristol Senior Center director and her role in the Bristol Warren Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition that were potentially criminal in nature. The concern was that Ms. Ursini was reportedly working for town grants on time she was intended to be working on Bristol Senior Center business. 

The Police Department began an inquiry into Ms. Ursini’s role as it pertained to the receipt of funds from grants received by the town for substance abuse related issues and examined Ms. Ursini’s role as the director of the Bristol Senior Center and her role as the co-coordinator of the Bristol Warren Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. 

As part of the inquiry, the Town of Bristol Treasurer’s office reported that Ms. Ursini was employed by the town as the Bristol Senior Center director for 35 hours a week, receiving approximately $41,000 annually. Ms. Ursini also maintained a role in the community group presently called the Bristol Warren Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. She served as the co-coordinator of this group from approximately July 2010 to April 12, 2017, when she tendered a letter of resignation, though she still maintained receiving payments through May 12, when she entered into a separate arrangement with the Town of Bristol, scaling her duties to avoid double payment for services.

The change in her duties was enacted after Town Hall began looking into Ms. Ursini’s total compensation and role as both the director of the senior center and co-coordinator of the Prevention Coalition. 

In 2016, Ms. Ursini and the co-coordinator applied for a federal Drug Free Communities grant and as of Aug. 31, 2016, were awarded the grant for $125,000 annually. After award of the grant, Ms. Ursini began collecting salary from the grant totaling $42,000, in addition to her $41,000 salary for the senior center.

Ms. Ursini also received additional reimbursements and per diem payments totaling approximately $2,500.

Of the $125,000 grant to the Town of Bristol, approximately $104,000 goes directly to salary and reimbursement for the co-coordinators of the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and the Program Evaluator. Additional monies go to reimbursement for program participants and for travel and training. Only a small portion of the funds make it directly into programs themselves or to program recipients. Furthermore, when asked to provide measurable outcomes or data related to where monies were spent, investigators were met with resistance and an inability to point to program efficacy. 

The Town of Bristol became aware in the spring of 2017 that Ms. Ursini was conducting Bristol Warren Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition business on time that she was expected to be conducting Bristol Senior Center business. Essentially she received compensation for the two positions from the Town of Bristol at the same time. This was communicated to the police department as cause for concern.

On May 12, the town administrator addressed the issue and entered into an agreement with Ms. Ursini outlining a new time plan for her to accomplish both roles moving forward and restructuring her salary at the Bristol Senior Center to account for the time she would not be spending conducting senior center duties. 

The Police Department began a review from the time of the grant inception to May 12, 2017, to determine if in fact Ms. Ursini had been conducting business for the federal grant on time that she was being compensated by the Town of Bristol for her primary duties as the director of the Bristol Senior Center. The police department consulted with the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office and the Bristol Town Solicitor’s office as part of the investigation. 

In July, Ms. Ursini was quoted in the Bristol Phoenix stating that she didn’t do work for the grant while she was doing work for the senior center. However, a review of Ms. Ursini’s time sheets provided to police reveals numerous times that she attended meetings and conducted Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition business during senior center working hours.

For numerous dates and times in question, officers were able to determine that Ms. Ursini engaged in Coalition business while also receiving pay for the Bristol Senior Center director’s position. Ms. Ursini was also found to be working for a separate Regional Grant for Tobacco enforcement on several occasions while also collecting from the DFC grant and the Town of Bristol for the senior center. 

The time sheets that Ms. Ursini submitted to police are documents that were intended to indicate when she was working on Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition business, as opposed to when she was working on Bristol Senior Center business. If she was working on Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition business while on time intended to work at the senior center, or vice versa, according to police these time sheets were false and intended to mislead town officials. 

On Aug. 11, 2017, warrants were issued for Ms. Ursini’s arrest for felony counts of Obtaining Monies under False Pretenses and Embezzlement and fraudulent conversion, and a misdemeanor charge of Providing False Documents to a Public Official.

After consulting with the Attorney General’s Office, along with the Town of Bristol solicitor’s office, Ms. Ursini accepted a Plea Agreement with the Town of Bristol. In exchange for the town declining to pursue the two felony counts, Ms. Ursini agreed to a plea to the Misdemeanor Charge, allowing her not to admit guilt but to pay the Town of Bristol restitution and accept a one-year filing, which mandates her to keep the peace and be of good behavior for the following year.