Starting with the smallest and most corrupt state?
>Last to join 13 colonies
http://www.provide
ncejournal.com/news/20180904/ex-ri-sen-doyle-arraigned-on-bank-fraud-and-tax-charges
>PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former state Sen. James E. Doyle II was arraigned in federal court Tuesday morning as he prepared to take responsibility for what his lawyer called his actions and his mistakes in a check-kiting scheme.
>Doyle, a Democrat representing Pawtucket, reached a plea agreement in August on 33 felony counts, including 31 counts of bank fraud and one each of filing a false tax return and failing to file a tax return. On Tuesday, the businessman and one-time state lawmaker took the next step in his fall from grace; although a formal not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, the judge described this as a way to move the case forward toward a change of plea at a later date.
>“He does expect to accept responsibility for all his actions and mistakes,” said his lawyer, Jeffrey Pine, in an interview outside the federal building on Exchange Street.
>Doyle resigned from office in January, citing struggles with alcohol. As part of his conditions of release, Doyle was ordered not to drink and to get mental-health treatment.
>Federal prosecutors in Rhode Island charged Doyle last month with the scheme to defraud three banks. Check kiting is drawing checks on an account in one bank and then depositing them into another bank, even though neither bank has enough money in the accounts to cover the amounts. That creates inflated, artificial balances due to the “float” time, prosecutors said.
>All told, Doyle, as the owner of Doyle Respiratory, LLC and Doyle Sleep Solutions, LLC, defrauded banks of between $250,000 and $550,000, prosecutors said. Doyle’s scheme included depositing 31 worthless checks totaling about $300,000 in just one day, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Doyle and his wife also failed to report more than $1 million in income.
>The scheme lasted from at least 2013 to 2016, while Doyle was in office, but his lawyer resisted comparing it to other corruption cases.
>“It’s not a case of public corruption,” Pine said. “It’s a personal matter involving his business.”
>Doyle himself declined to comment.
>Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond set a $300,000 unsecured bond, meaning Doyle won’t have to post any money to remain free while awaiting a guilty plea and his sentencing.
>Doyle will also be able to travel to Massachusetts and Connecticut for the medical-supply company Doyle Respiratory, which is still running, his lawyer said.
>Pine said Doyle does not yet have a recommendation for his sentence.
What type of medical supplies does Doyle's [Sleep Solutions] supply?