Suspended worker seeks return to job
Man sentenced to probation on gambling charges seeks reinstatement to city position
WOONSOCKET – A veteran city laborer who was suspended without pay in 2014 following an indictment on felony gambling charges has told The Call he will seek to be reinstated following his sentencing in Superior Court last month.
“Reinstatement is in the lawyer’s hands,” David Ayotte said in a direct message on Facebook when asked about his intentions.
Ayotte, 56, of 634 Old Smithfield Road, pled no contest to conspiracy, organized criminal gambling and bookmaking on April 21. But his lawyer, William Devereaux of Providence, said the admission does not rate as a conviction under Rhode Island law because the plea is not attached to a prison sentence, suspended jail time or any fines.
Ayotte was sentenced to seven years’ probation in all. In addition, he was ordered to pay more than $1,000 in various assessments, including $500 in restitution to the city of Woonsocket, a $270 contribution to the state’s Victim Indemnification Fund and $540 personal recognizance bond. None of those fees is classified as a fine.
“That is correct,” said Devereaux. “It was a straight probation sentence, not fines, and it was over the objection of the attorney general’s division.”
Ayotte was among 13 individuals, including his wife Cheryl, who were arrested on bookmaking and related charges on Feb. 4, 2014, following a lengthy undercover investigation by the Rhode Island State Police. Using wiretaps and other forms of surveillance, investigators said they discovered that Ayotte had “operational control” over a bookmaking ring that was taking wagers on all kinds of sports events, from horse-racing to hockey and basketball to football.
Investigators said they had the key players under surveillance since mid-2013, but paid closer attention during a roughly month-long period in advance of the Super Bowl. During that period, they said Ayotte received some 1,700 text messages and phone calls, booking more than $130,000 in wagers, mostly on the
NFL’s marquee event.
Executing multiple warrants, including paperwork that allowed them to search a number of locations in the Blackstone Valley for evidence, the state police also seized more than $260,000 in cash, including $100,000, firearms and other materials from a safe at Gold Loan Advance, a business owned by Dan Baldelli at 100 Bernon St. Baldelli was never charged with any crime as a result of the raid.
Police say Ayotte was booking bets when he was on the clock as a laborer in the city’s parks and recreation division, a position he has held for more than 20 years.
Ayotte did not elaborate on his plans for seeking reinstatement. Though Devereaux said he would not be representing Ayotte in the employment matter, the defense lawyer said the probationary sentence on a no contest plea leaves room for Ayotte to explore his options.
“I’m not going to be the lawyer handling that,” said Devereaux, adding that he would recommend an experienced labor lawyer to Ayotte is he asks for a referral.
Acting on an opinion from the city’s Law Department, Ayotte was suspended under a provision of the City Charter that calls for such action whenever an elected official or employee is arrested on charges that are turned over to a grand jury.
The same portion of the charter – Section XVI, Art. 1 – does not clearly indicate how the city should handle a request for reinstatement made under circumstances such as Ayotte’s. The charter says employees must be reinstated with full back pay if they are acquitted, but it doesn’t say what happens if an employee furnishes the court with an admission that technically rates as neither a conviction nor an acquittal.
“In the event of acquittal, or in the event the grand jury returns no indictment when bound over, he is reinstated as of the date of suspension, and entitled to all back pay accrued during his suspension,” the charter says.
Repeated efforts to reach City Solicitor John J. Desimone for comment on the matter have not been successful.