CHARLES MOREAUCharles Moreau, the former mayor of Central Falls, once walked the streets of Rhody's downtrodden metropolis with a brassy defiance.
This week, he stood before the media outside a federal courthouse and apologized to the city, friends, and family after pleading guilty to a corruption charge expected to land him to prison for at least two years.
The mayor awarded political supporter Michael Bouthilette a big, wildly inflated, no-bid city contract to board up abandoned buildings in exchange for a relatively puny prize ― a furnace in his Central Falls house and renovations to another home he owned in Lincoln.
Of course, this being Rhode Island, Moreau is not the only politician who could find himself in a birdcage in the near future.
Representative John J. McCauley Jr., who declined to seek re-election this fall, has agreed to plead guilty to tax evasion. And Representative Leo Medina, who lost his Democratic primary fight, is facing charges of embezzlement and practicing law without a license.
The turkeys, this year, were a plentiful breed. And here at the Phoenix, we give thanks. Gobble! Gobble!
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