Police Log

Johnston Sun Rise ·

Man charged in illegal retail scheme

A Johnston man has been charged in connection with an organized retail crime operation following a month-long investigation, according to Rhode Island State Police.

Richard Tiberi, 73, of 12 Woodbine St., faces counts of receiving stolen goods more than $1,500, soliciting another to commit a crime, and conspiracy.

He was arraigned in Third District Court on Aug. 26 and released on $5,000 bail with surety. The $10,000 personal recognizance on which he was released following a November 2015 arrest on a bookmaking charge was continued.

Police allege Tiberi ran the illegal operation from the Decatur Social Club in Providence and his Johnston home. The investigation is said to have included surveillance of meetings and stolen item purchases involving Tiberi and co-conspirators.

Search warrants for Tiberi’s home, vehicle, and person were executed on the evening of Aug. 25, and police say that action resulted in the seizure of stolen items valued at more than $5,500, as well as a computer, two telephones, ledgers, and a vehicle.

Man pleads guilty in wrong-way crash that killed young couple

A Massachusetts man has pleaded guilty in connection with a 2015 crash on Route 6 that left two people dead.

Joel Norman, 26, of Webster, Mass., entered the plea in Superior Court to two counts of driving under the influence, death resulting; two counts of driving to endanger, death resulting; and one count of cocaine possession. He received a 20-year sentence, with 12 to serve at the ACI followed by three on home confinement and the remainder suspended.

Norman’s license was ordered revoked for 10 years upon completion of his sentence. He must also pay a $10,00 fine and undergo substance abuse counseling.

Prosecutors say just after 12:32 a.m. on Easter Sunday of last year – April 5 – Norman was driving in the wrong direction on Route 6 westbound when his vehicle struck an ongoing car driven by 21-year-old Tiffany Sical. She and the passenger, 23-year-old Brayan Rodriguez Solis, were both killed.

Norman is said to have been drinking at several nightclubs in downtown Providence prior to the crash. Prosecutors say roughly four hours after the collision, his blood alcohol content remained more than twice the legal limit.

Sical and Solis were returning home after seeing a movie in Warwick and eating at Spike’s in Cranston.

“Tiffany and Brayan were two young people in love with each other, in love with their daughter Jayleen, in love with their families, and looking forward to building a life together,” Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin said through a statement. “Solely for the reckless and deadly decision by Joel Norman to get behind the wheel of his car so intoxicated he was unable to discern the correct way to drive onto the highway, that life is gone, and the lives of their daughter and families will never be the same. One drunken decision has led to consequences too many to count.”

Two plead to unemployment fraud charges

Two local men have pleaded no contest to unemployment insurance benefit fraud and been ordered to pay more than $15,000 in combined restitution, the office of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced this week.

Ralph Altieri, 62, of North Providence, entered the plea to one count of obtaining more than $1,500 under false pretenses. He is said to have improperly collected more than $7,000 in benefits between Oct. 16, 2010, and Aug. 13, 2011, all while working for four separate construction companies in Massachusetts.

Steven Barone, 34, of Cranston, entered the plea to the same charge. He is said to have wrongly obtained more than $8,000 in benefits between May 12, 2012, and Nov. 22, 2014, while working for SMG – the Rhode Island Convention Center – and several other employees through Laborers Local 271.

“These pleas account for an additional $15,000 in court-ordered restitution that we have been successful in obtaining this year alone as a result of the prosecution of individuals who have chosen to commit unemployment insurance benefit fraud and then refuse to cooperate with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training to repay what they owe,” Kilmartin said through a statement.