R.I. state senator admits payoffs

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The former chairman of the Rhode Island Senate's commerce committee has admitted accepting more than $300,000 in cash and gifts from health-care companies.

John Celona, a Democrat from North Providence, apologized to his constituents, the state, and his family and friends after he emerged from Thursday's hearing in federal court, the Providence Journal reported.

"This has been a most difficult time," he said. "But I have determined that this plea is the best thing for me, my wife, my family, my sons and the people of the state of Rhode Island."

Celona's guilty plea includes an agreement for a reduced sentence if he continues to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

Three companies -- the CVS drugstore chain, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the Roger Williams Medical Center -- and seven of their executives were named by federal prosecutors in a recitation of Celona's misdeeds. None has been charged, but the Journal reported the audience in the courtroom included most of the state's finest criminal lawyers.