PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The state has reached a $125,000 settlement with a Rhode Island man assaulted by a state trooper, while the trooper in question is now accusing the state of conspiracy.
The state in September agreed to settle with 35-year-old Lionel Monsanto.
The Providence Journal reports that the Central Falls man would receive $110,000 from the state and $15,000 from Trooper James Donnelly Taylor, who pleaded no contest to simple assault in connection with the 2014 encounter.
No party admitted fault or liability.
Donnelly Taylor is now accusing former state Police Col. Steven O’Donnell of ordering him to plead guilty and he alleges the state is trying to keep video of the assault under wraps.
O’Donnell called the trooper’s claims “ludicrous.” Monsanto’s lawyer also dismissed Donnelly Taylor’s allegations.
The attorney general’s office declined comment.
