Probation for man accused of leading gambling ring

Suspended city worker David Ayotte pleads no contest to charges resulting from 2014 raid on gambling operation

WOONSOCKET –A longtime city employee who was suspended from his job following his arrest on felony gambling charges in 2014 has been sentenced to seven years probation after admitting to the charges during a Superior Court hearing.

David Ayotte, 56, of 634 Old Smithfield Road, pled no contest to conspiracy, organized criminal gambling and bookmaking on April 21, according to court documents.

Ayotte was among 13 individuals, including his wife, Cheryl, rounded up in a state police raid on similar charges on Feb. 4, 2014 – several days after the Super Bowl.

In a case built on evidence obtained through wiretaps, state police said Ayotte had “operational control” over a lucrative bookmaking ring that took wagers on horse-racing, hockey, basketball, football and other sports. Police said that during a roughly month-long run-up to the Super Bowl, Ayotte received some 1,700 telephone calls and text messages authorizing him to book more than $130,000 worth of sports wagers.

Police seized more than $260,000 in cash and other evidence during the raid, including roughly $100,000 from a safe at Gold Loan Advance, located at 100 Bernon St. The business is owned by Dan Baldelli. The brother of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, Baldelli was

not charged with any criminal offense as a result of the raid, although he pled no contest to four gambling charges in 1990, according to previously published reports.

Ayotte had worked as a laborer for the city’s parks and recreation division for 20 years at the time of his arrest. Citing the city charter, city officials said they were compelled to suspend him without pay following his indictment on the felony charges on Aug. 1, 2014.

The charter says, “Any elected or appointed official or employee of the city, if bound over to a grand jury for a felony allegedly committed, or if secretly indicted by a grand jury for a felony, shall be automatically suspended, as of the date of the action, without pay if any accrues to his position.”

Because Ayotte entered a plea of no contest to a sentence that is not attached to any length of court-ordered incarceration or suspended time – it’s straight probation without any fines – his admission may not constitute a conviction under Rhode Island law.

As part of the resolution, Ayotte paid more than $1,000 in various sorts of court assessments, including $500 in restitution to the city of Woonsocket, a $270 contribution to the state’s Victim Indemnity Fund and $540 personal recognizance bond. But none of those fees is classified as a fine.

The question now is whether he is entitled to his old job back – with back pay.

The same provision of the city charter under which Ayotte was suspended covers the issue of job rights involving employees convicted, or not, of felony criminal charges. But Section 16, Article 1 is less than clear on the issue and may leave the matter open for legal debate.

The applicable section of the charter says employees accused of a felony must be discharged in the event of a conviction.

However, it also says, “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 is silent on the issue of what happens in the event of a no contest plea that might rate as something less than a conviction.

Neither William Devereaux – Ayotte’s defense counsel – nor City Solicitor John J. Desimone, could immediately be reached for a comment on their view of Ayotte’s employment status with the city.