Providence NAACP head found guilty in finance irregularity
PROVIDENCE — The president of the Providence NAACP has been found guilty of violating state campaign finance laws when he ran for City Council in 2022.
Gerard Catala, who has led the local chapter of the civil rights organization since 2022, was found guilty of two misdemeanor criminal counts by District Court Judge Anthony Capraro.
In handing down the verdict in the bench trial Wednesday, Capraro noted that Catala was given ample time and latitude to come into compliance with state campaign finance laws, but it appeared “he just didn’t seem to want to.”
He sentenced Catala to 20 hours of community service and a one-year filing, which means the case can be expunged if Catala stays out of trouble for a year. Catala’s attorney, Jeff Peckham, immediately appealed the guilty verdict to the Rhode Island Superior Court.
“I have absolutely nothing to say,” Catala told a reporter outside the courtroom.
The criminal conviction is expected to prompt another wave of efforts to oust Catala as president of the civil rights organization, as his 14-month tenure has thus far been overshadowed by two arrests; one in the campaign finance case and a second arrest for assault that was later dropped.
The next election for NAACP president is this November.
Catala owes nearly $28,000 in fines to the state Board of Elections for 23 campaign finance reports he either filed late or not at all, according to Richard Thornton, the director of campaign finance who was also the sole witness called to the stand during the trial.
In finding that Catala “willfully and knowingly” violated the law — rather than just making a mistake — Capraro noted Thornton went to great lengths to attempt to get Catala to properly file his campaign finance reports, which are required by law to disclose a candidate’s campaign donations and exactly how the money was spent.
The judge agreed with the prosecution that criminally charging Catala was the “last resort” and not a result of “selective prosecution,” as the defense had argued.
“The goal is to police the candidates and, most importantly, to protect the integrity of our election process,” Capraro said.
Catala has run unsuccessfully for Providence City Council three times, in 2014, 2018, and 2022, with varying levels of noncompliance with his campaign finance reporting each time, according to the Board of Elections. His 2014 fines were waived after he filed his reports three years late.
The criminal investigation initially stemmed from the 2018 election, when Thornton’s office audited Catala’s account and found more than $7,000 worth of spending from his campaign account that was not accounted for on campaign finance reports. The board referred the matter to Attorney General Peter Neronha for potential prosecution.
The 2018 violations were outside the statute of limitations for a criminal charge, but Neronha ultimately charged Catala in connection with the 2022 election. Catala has failed to file any of the required campaign finance reports in connection with that election, according to the elections board, and his 2018 reports, which were filed four years late, remain “incomplete and non-compliant.”
“Mr. Catala’s continued defiance of these campaign finance requirements raises concern,” Special Assistant Attorney General Alison Bittl said during closing arguments on Wednesday. She sought a harsher sentence of a one-year suspended prison sentence and one year of probation. She noted that Catala admitted to violating bail in the case when he was arrested for a second time, even though the charge was later dismissed.
Peckham, in his closing arguments, claimed Catala was treated differently from other political candidates who fail to file their reports.
“There was some selective decisions made in referring Mr. Catala’s case to the attorney general’s office,” Peckham argued.
But Capraro disagreed and said he was satisfied that Catala was brought up for criminal charges only as a “last resort,” similar to other candidates that do not voluntarily comply with the law after being audited by the Board of Elections. (Councilman Juan Pichardo, who beat Catala in the 2022 election, made such an agreement to resolve his own campaign finance violations last year.)
Peckham said Catala is not currently employed but devotes many hours to his volunteer role at the NAACP, where he is “more of a productive member of the community than a lot of people who appear before the court.”
Catala beat the longtime former NAACP president, Jim Vincent, in the November 2022 election to lead the organization. Asked for a reaction to Catala’s conviction, Vincent said: “I’m saddened by it because it hurts the reputation of the NAACP Providence branch.”
‘The goal is to police the candidates and, most importantly, to protect the integrity of our election process.’ DISTRICT COURT JUDGE ANTHONY CAPRARO, on finding Gerard Catala guilty of violating state campaign finance laws