PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A once-influential Rhode Island lawmaker is beginning nine-months of home confinement after pleading no contest to perjury charges.
WPRI-TV reports former state Rep. John Carnevale was placed in handcuffs following his sentencing in state Superior Court in Providence Wednesday.
The 56-year-old Providence Democrat was handed a five-year sentence for lying to investigators about his residency.
But as part of a plea deal, he’ll only serve nine months on home confinement with the remainder is suspended.
Carnevale was elected to the legislature in 2008 and rose to become vice chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee.
He was indicted last year after a WPRI-TV investigation raised questions about whether he lived in the district he represented.
Providence elected officials kicked him off the voter rolls, and he dropped his re-election campaign.
