Thursday, November 2, 2023
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A self-employed contractor and “home flipper” from North Kingstown who was indicted in federal court in March on charges of perpetrating a scheme to conceal large amounts of assets, money laundering and wire fraud from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Providence has agreed to plead guilty to multiple counts.
According to the indictment, Ernest P. Rich and his wife, Brenda L. Rich, “had significant unpaid debts to creditors and the IRS dating back to 2004 and had engaged in conduct intended to evade their creditors since 2011.”
This is the latest legal move for Ernest Rich, whose bail was revoked in April after a gun was found in his country club locker.
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That same month, Rich applied for medical release to allow for treatment, claiming he lost about 24 pounds, “more than 20 percent of his body weight,” during his first three weeks in Wyatt prison, according to court documents.
He was released in June, ordered to surrender his passport, and was restricted from traveling to Rhode Island and Massachusetts under GPS location monitoring.
In August, Rich's then-attorney, Edward Roy, filed a motion to withdraw as counsel.
“Mr. Rich engaged in conduct that impaired defense counsel's ability to effectively defend him,” Roy wrote. “As a result, defense counsel's relationship with Mr. Rich deteriorated to the extent that he was unable to effectively defend him consistent with the rules of professional responsibility.”
Brenda Rich did not take a plea deal.
About plea bargaining
According to the plea agreement reached on Tuesday, Ernest Rich will plead guilty to bankruptcy fraud, aiding and abetting perjury, obstruction of bankruptcy, wire fraud and money laundering.
In exchange for Rich's guilty plea, “if the defendant continues to demonstrate an admission of responsibility throughout sentencing, the government agrees to recommend a two-level offense reduction for the admission of responsibility.”
Under the plea agreement, the government will dismiss two charges of aggravated identity theft and tax evasion and will not pursue an additional charge of filing false tax returns.
“If imposed consecutively, the maximum sentence for all crimes to which the defendant pled guilty is 65 years in prison, a $1.5 million fine and three years of probation,” according to the plea agreement.
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