PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A former high-ranking Rhode Island lawmaker reported to federal prison on Monday to serve a sentence for charges including fraud, identity theft and filing false tax returns.
Former Democratic House Finance Committee Chair Ray Gallison reported to the Devens prison facility in Ayer, Massachusetts, shortly before noon, according to U.S. Marshal Jamie Hainsworth. Gallison was sentenced last month to serve four years and three months in prison.
Gallison, 65, pleaded guilty in March. Among his crimes, he admitted to taking $678,000 from the estate of a dead client for whom he was executor, and to taking $8,900 from the trust of a person with special needs.
He also acknowledged taking money from a nonprofit group funded by state grants that listed him as assistant director, but for which Gallison never actually did any work.
He resigned from the House last year amid the federal investigation into his finances.
Gallison was one of three former House members charged with criminal conduct in a span of 11 days in January. The charges prompted then-U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha to decry the state’s political culture.
Once Gallison is done with his stint behind bars, he will have to perform 100 hours of community service and serve three years of supervised release.
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