Providence council president charged with embezzlement
Jennifer Bogdan JenniferBogdan
Embezzlement. Unlawful appropriation. Two counts of personal use of campaign funds. Luis A. Aponte, who has been at the head of the City Council for almost 2� years, pleaded not guilty to the charges — the first two of which are felonies that each come with a potential sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence City Council President Luis A. Aponte stood silently in red handcuffs before Superior Court Justice Luis Matos Wednesday afternoon as the judge read the charges from a secret and sealed indictment handed up by a statewide grand jury.
Embezzlement. Unlawful appropriation. Two counts of personal use of campaign funds.
Aponte, who has been at the head of the City Council for almost 2½ years, pleaded not guilty to the charges — the first two of which are felonies that each come with a potential sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.
Often eager to talk to reporters, Aponte, who was released on $1,000 personal recognizance, left the courthouse without comment.
Within an hour of the arraignment, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza called on Aponte, a fellow Democrat, to step down immediately as council president.
"Providence has worked so hard to overcome this stereotype and today's indictment of Council President Luis Aponte proves that we still have a long way to go to ensure ethics and transparency for our residents," Elorza said in a statement.
"Our residents deserve to be represented by council members who lead with the utmost moral authority and these charges undermine the council president's ability to do so."
While a number of lawmakers on the 15-member, all Democratic council issued statements Wednesday expressing their disappointment, none immediately joined Elorza's call for Aponte to step down.
Even Ward 2 Councilman Samuel Zurier, who has often been at odds with Aponte, said he and his fellow East Side council members were not yet sounding the horns for resignation.
"Our group has decided to wait a day and give him and his colleagues time to resolve the situation," Zurier said.
Aponte did not return a call or email after his court appearance Wednesday.
First elected to represent Ward 10 in 1998, Aponte is now the second city councilman entangled in criminal charges related to alleged abuse of campaign finance funds. Last week, voters overwhelmingly opted to recall Councilman Kevin Jackson, who was once Aponte's second-in-command as the council's majority leader.
Jackson stepped down from his leadership position after he was indicted last year.
Few details behind the charges Aponte faces emerged Wednesday. Court documents that were unsealed allege that between May 10, 2014 and Dec. 28, 2015, Aponte unlawfully appropriated more than $1,000 from the "Friends of Luis Aponte" campaign finance account for his own use.
Between Dec. 18, 2013 and Dec. 28, 2015, Aponte allegedly embezzled more than $100 from the same account.
Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin, said no other details about how the money was used could be released at this time.
Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John Marion said a bill pending before the General Assembly requiring random auditing of campaign finance accounts with balances of more than $10,000, could have potentially caught any discrepancies in Aponte's accounting sooner.
"There's also the deterrent of knowing that he could have been selected randomly for an audit that might have prevented him from doing something like this," Marion said.
As of March 31, Aponte had $14,457 in the "Friends of Luis Aponte" account, according to reports filed with the state Board of Elections.
Reports show the account has been untouched for a little more than a year. The last recorded activity was on Feb. 16, 2016 when Aponte, who at the time had $515.40 remaining, made a $13,942.29 deposit with the description "reimburse campaign account."
In the fourth quarter of 2015, $10,525.97 was withdrawn from the account and listed as "aggregate expense." That designation allows a candidate or officeholder to forgo disclosing an itemized list of expenses when the payment to any person or vendor does not exceed $100 in a calendar year.
Aponte is also facing state Ethics Commission violations over accusations that he voted on a zone change affecting his landlord. Aponte has filed a lawsuit, challenging the Ethics Commission's jurisdiction over the matter.
— jbogdan@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @JenniferBogdan