Government's Sentencing Memorandum — United States v. Ernest P. Ricci (D.R.I., Dkt. 75, May 23, 2024)

Summary

The Government's Sentencing Memorandum (Document 75) in United States of America v. Ernest P. Ricci, Cr. No. 23-34-JJM, in the District Court of the United States for the District of Rhode Island, filed May 23, 2024. The government recommends a high-end guideline sentence of 57 months of imprisonment, a forfeiture money judgment and restitution of $129,306 to the Small Business Administration, a fine of $10,000, and 3 years of supervised release with a condition to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service. The memorandum asserts that the defendant committed bankruptcy fraud in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and defrauded taxpayers through fraudulently obtained pandemic relief funds. It opposes the defendant's request for a probationary sentence based on a medical condition.

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“Government's Sentencing Memorandum — United States v. Ernest P. Ricci (D.R.I., Dkt. 75, May 23, 2024).” Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/court-filing-no-1-23-cr-00034-dkt-75-d-r-i-f0614617a6/, SHA-256 64060e15597b25861973b046dc0055e60bdd59a4f938aa20865de98e45cab690.

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Case 1:23-cr-00034-JJM-PAS Document 75 Filed 05/23/24 Page 1 of 10 PageID #:
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IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Cr. No. 23-34-JJM
v.
ERNEST P. RICCI

GOVERNMENT’S SENTENCING MEMORANDUM

Defendant Ernest P. Ricci (“Ricci”) waged a multi-year campaign of fraud,

harassment and abuse in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode

Island. He committed bankruptcy fraud, obstructed court proceedings, filed false and

forged documents, took frivolous appeals, and committed perjury. Over the course of

years, he harassed, threatened and insulted the Chapter 7 Trustee and other

professionals appointed by the United States Trustee to administer his bankruptcy

estate, resulting in one long-serving attorney to withdraw from the practice. He did all

of this because he simply doesn’t like to pay his bills.

Moreover, he recruited multiple people to participate in his criminal scheme. His

conduct led directly to the indictment, prosecution and conviction of his wife. He

suborned the perjury of least two people during the proceedings, (his wife and

unindicted co-conspirator R.L). In the process, he violated the attorney-client privilege

between R.L. and his lawyer by impersonating R.L. through email communications

with the attorney and directing R.L.’s litigation. This conduct demands a substantial

incarcerative sentence.

Ricci also defrauded taxpayers through fraudulently obtained pandemic relief

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funds. This from a man who spent over a decade evading the payment of his own

income tax obligations, while living in a home valued at nearly a million dollars and

driving a brand-new Ford F150 billed to his wife’s business, as well as allegedly failing

to pay his own employees their wages.

After receiving the fraudulent proceeds, Ricci then laundered those funds,

purchasing a house on West Shore Road in Warwick through a straw purchaser, which

he concealed from the bankruptcy trustee.

Learning that he was under criminal investigation did not deter Ricci. He

contacted AirBnB and threatened them with litigation if they complied with a grand

jury subpoena, and contacted the adult son of a witness and told the son that his father

should not listen to the FBI. He also tried to get the son to pay the bankruptcy trustee

on Ricci’s behalf and promised to pay the son back “with interest.”

After being arrested and charged with multiple crimes in federal court, Ricci

repeatedly violated the conditions of his release, resulting in his temporary pretrial

detention. A non-exhaustive list of his pretrial misconduct includes concealing his

possession of firearms from U.S. Probation; repeatedly violating a no-contact order with

multiple witnesses; illegally conducting business activity; changing his residence

without permission from Probation; and repeatedly failing to report police contact.

Even after pleading guilty, Ricci violated the no-contact order by sending a letter to the

Assistant U.S. Trustee, in which he offered to “go undercover.” All Ricci asked for in

return was to “not have to face the judge and become a felon.”
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Each of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553 sentencing factors calls for a substantial sentence in

this case. Accordingly, the government recommends a high-end guideline sentence of

57 months imprisonment; a forfeiture money judgment and restitution in the amount of

$129,306 to the Small Business Administration, a fine in the amount of $10,000, and a

period of 3 years supervised release, with a special condition of release that Ricci

cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) in the ascertainment and collection

of his outstanding tax liability, including penalties and interest, including meeting with

IRS representatives as often as necessary and providing complete and truthful

information to them.

The high-end guideline sentence requested by the government is justified.

Ricci’s conduct is the worst among any bankruptcy defendant in the history of this

district. As a result of the grouping rules, there is no increase in the offense level Ricci

faces for the bankruptcy fraud attributable to the pandemic relief wire fraud and money

laundering offenses. See PSR at ¶113. Each of these crimes warrants punishment and

that conduct should be reflected in the Court’s sentence. Given the financial nature of

this case and the likelihood that even with full restitution and a requirement to

cooperate with the IRS, Ricci will likely still have successfully avoided paying many of

his debts, a fine is appropriate.

Nature and Circumstances of the Offenses

Ricci’s actions in this case demonstrate that he is a man who lacks respect for the

law, lawyers, courts, and his fellow citizens. His actions also show that Ricci will stop

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at nothing to get what he wants, and he has a brazen confidence that he will be allowed

to engage in lawlessness, abuse, and lies without consequence. The nature of his

offenses cries out for a sentence that will punish him for his crimes, promote respect for

the law, and most importantly, protect the integrity of the court system.

As the Chapter 7 Trustee observed in his impact statement, honesty is essential to

the bankruptcy process. And yet Ricci approached the bankruptcy system with a

dishonest purpose from the outset. Having lost his longshot attempt to preserve his

oceanfront property in legal proceedings in Florida (where he behaved in much the

same fashion as he did in the bankruptcy case) he abusively filed repeated bankruptcy

petitions in order to benefit from the automatic stay. In his sentencing memorandum,

Ricci attempts to explain his outrageous behavior as motivated by a desire to “save a

valuable oceanfront piece of real estate located in Lighthouse Point, Florida.” His

disingenuous excuse overlooks the fact that Ricci had not made mortgage payments on

this property in years, all the while collecting income from AirBnB rentals.

Throughout the bankruptcy proceedings Ricci engaged in multiple forms of

deceit and obstruction. He intentionally wasted the time and resources of both the

Chapter 7 Trustee and the United States Trustee over a period of years. In doing so, he

made a mockery of the honest debtors who rely on bankruptcy protections and

undermined the very system they rely on to obtain a fresh start in life. His actions

should not go unpunished.

During the bankruptcy proceedings, Ricci not only perjured himself, but also
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extent, he would ultimately only pay pennies on the dollar. Ricci is a master of the art

of going “up to the line” and then, when he thinks he can get away with it, crossing that

line. He was determined to make the bankruptcy process so painful for everyone else

that they would give up in exhaustion.

That approach continued throughout this criminal prosecution. In his sentencing

memorandum, Ricci argues that he had “no issues” relating to his release since he

began counseling in June of 2023. In fact, since that time, Ricci filed false tax returns

with the IRS, was charged with crimes in Rhode Island Superior Court, misleadingly

led Probation to believe those crimes were a civil work-related dispute, and sent a letter

to the U.S. Trustee in contravention of the no-contact order, among other transgressions.

The Need to Provide Defendant with Medical Treatment

Ricci seeks to avoid a prison sentence based on his medical condition. Ricci’s

motion for a sentencing variance to a straight probationary sentence would amount to a

100% downward variance based on a medical condition which is treatable and in no

way affected his ability to engage in this course of criminal conduct over multiple years.

Such a sentence would be both procedurally and substantively unreasonable. While

the government does not deny the medical condition exists, the defendant has a long

history of manipulating and using it to his advantage to avoid consequences. It is not a

coincidence the defendant has scheduled a procedure for approximately 4 weeks after

the scheduled sentencing date, just beyond the ordinary time for self-reporting to BOP.

When the defendant was released for “emergency” medical treatment during his

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pretrial detention on April 28, 2023, he proceeded to schedule his “emergency”

procedure for August 21, 2023, some four months later. Only when the government

moved to end his temporary release and have him re-detained, did the defendant have

procedure quickly moved to up to June 26, 2023, still two months later. Moreover,

immediately after Ricci’s release from pretrial detention he engaged in witness

tampering, resulting in the police being called. There is nothing in the record to

suggest that the Bureau of Prisons is not more than capable of addressing the

defendant’s medical needs. The BOP has policies and programs designed to meet the

needs of aging inmates. See BOP Program Statement on the Management of Aging

Offenders dated April 14, 2022.1 The defendant should not be permitted to avoid

accountability for his conduct by portraying himself as incurably unhealthy.

Conclusion

For the reasons set forth herein, the government respectfully recommends a

sentence of 57 months incarceration, full restitution, a fine of $10,000, and a term of

supervised release to include special conditions requiring cooperation with the IRS.

Respectfully submitted,

ZACHARY A. CUNHA
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

/s/ John P. McAdams
JOHN P. McADAMS
Assistant U. S. Attorney

1
Available at https://www.bop.gov/policy/progstat/5241_001.pdf.

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on May 23, 2024, I caused the Government’s Sentencing
Memorandum to be filed electronically and it is available for viewing and downloading
from the ECF system.

Electronic Notification

Ed Roy, Esq.

/s/ John P. McAdams
JOHN P. McADAMS
Assistant U. S. Attorney,
U. S. Attorney's Office
One Financial Plaza, 17th Floor
Providence, RI 02903
401-709-5000

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