Edward Daniel DiPrete (born July 8, 1934) is an American politician. He served as the 70th Governor of Rhode Island for three two-year terms, serving from 1985 to 1991. Convicted of numerous corruption charges, he is the only Rhode Island governor to have gone to prison.

Early life

DiPrete was born in

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, formerly known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second-largest city in the state. The center of ...

. He graduated from the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

, and received honorary degrees from Holy Cross,

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

Bryant College Bryant University is a private university in Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States. It has three colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, and the College of Business, and is accredited by the New E ...

and the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

. From 1970 to 1974, he served on the Cranston School Committee. From 1974 to 1978, he served as an at-large member of the Cranston City Council. He served as mayor of the city from 1978 to 1985.

Governor of Rhode Island

DiPrete served as the 70th Governor of Rhode Island from 1985 to 1991, and was defeated for reelection in a landslide by former U.S. government attorney and millionaire businessman

Bruce Sundlun Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as List of governors of Rhode Island, 71st governor of Rhode Island ...

in the 1990 election, who had previously lost twice to DiPrete. In 1994, DiPrete was indicted on criminal charges relating to the awarding of state contracts during his service as governor. All charges were dismissed in March 1997 by a

Rhode Island Superior Court The Rhode Island Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction in Rhode Island. Jurisdiction The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in all felony proceedings, civil matters with an amount in controversy in excess of $10,00 ...

Judge who also found the

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...

's office guilty of 10 findings of "egregious prosecutorial misconduct." He was subsequently charged again, and in December 1998, he pleaded guilty to state charges of

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

and

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

, and was sentenced to a year in prison. In a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

he also admitted accepting $250,000 in exchange for state contracts during his term as governor. DiPrete agreed to this plea bargain only after receiving assurance that pending charges against one of his sons would be dismissed. Those charges against his son were dismissed in their entirety prior to DiPrete agreeing to the plea bargain. In addition, his state retirement pension was revoked, despite attempts to have it reinstated. DiPrete served eleven months in Adult Correctional Institutions. Subsequently, the

state Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...

overturned the denial of DiPrete's pension benefits to his wife and remanded the case back to Superior Court for a new hearing. Because of a degenerative neurological disease, Mrs. DiPrete, notified the court through her attorney, she wished to terminate the request, and the new hearing ordered by the Supreme Court did not proceed.

Personal life

DiPrete was known for his "everyman" persona, serving supermarket fried chicken to guests in his

Winnebago Winnebago can refer to: * The exonym of the Ho-Chunk tribe of Native North Americans with reservations in Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin ** Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, a federally recognized tribe group in the state ** The Winnebago language of the ...

motor home. He parked the motor home outside the

Rhode Island State House The Rhode Island State House, the capitol of the state of Rhode Island, is located at 82 Smith Street just below the crest of Smith Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, Smith Hill, on the border of Downtown, Providence, Rhode Island, downtown in Prov ...

during a snowstorm in February 1987 so that he would be able to come to work despite heavy snowfall. DiPrete kept an arcade

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

game in his house, which he demonstrated to president

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

in 1989. DiPrete and his wife Patricia had seven children; Patricia died in 2011. DiPrete lived in his home in Cranston until October 2016, when he moved to an apartment in the Garden City section of that city.

Electoral history

References

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Diprete, Edward D. 1934 births 20th-century mayors of places in Rhode Island American politicians convicted of bribery College of the Holy Cross alumni Living people Mayors of Cranston, Rhode Island Politicians convicted of racketeering Republican Party governors of Rhode Island Rhode Island city council members Rhode Island politicians convicted of crimes School board members in Rhode Island

Early life

Governor of Rhode Island

Personal life

Electoral history

See also

References