Minor hit-and-run leads to charges of political abuse

A hit-and-run case against a former East Providence city councilman ended last month with what’s called a not-guilty filing, a legal maneuver that means the case will be dismissed and expunged by August if he stays out of trouble.

It’s not a conviction for Brian Faria, 47. Unlike other types of cases that end in filings, he didn’t have to admit to anything. He is able to maintain his innocence, which he does. The alleged car crash in November 2018 was barely even a fender bender. And now the legal saga that sprang out of it is over.

If this had happened in another town, to another politician, that’s where the story might have ended.

But this is East Providence. And this is Brian Faria.

So there’s some more to tell.

“The saga was because it was me,” Faria said. “The saga was because they pulled a hatchet job.”

Faria believes the way the criminal case was handled was political retaliation over his refusal to “kiss the ring.” Behind it all, Faria says, is the Law Office of William J. Conley Jr., headed by a Democratic state senator whose brother Faria defeated to win his council seat, and whose son he opposed for a city job. A Conley firm lawyer, Diony Garcia, prosecuted Faria in District Court on behalf of East Providence, and was unusually reluctant to hand over material in the case, Faria and his attorney said.

The Conleys say they have no problem with Faria and that they weren’t personally involved in his case at all. They say Garcia is a respected prosecutor without political considerations. City representatives say there was no political retaliation.

Faria and his attorney have a different view.

“I honestly thought he was under the gun of politicians to take this course,” said Faria’s lawyer, John F. Cicilline. “No one would ever listen to reason.”

Garcia said in a statement to The Journal: “I had absolutely no external pressures, political or otherwise, to handle this case in any manner. To suggest that I was motivated by anything other than the pursuit of justice is disheartening.”

Garcia went on to say that Faria made several motions in court, including to dismiss for failure to turn over records, and “these motions were denied on the merits by more than one judge and the case was scheduled for trial on more than one occasion.”

Faria eventually decided to take the case from the District Court to the Superior Court, where it was given to a member of the state attorney general’s office, John E. Sullivan III.

Said Cicilline: “When he saw this case, he knew immediately there was a problem.”

Kristy dosReis, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Peter Neronha, said in an email: “The resolution of this case was the result of a negotiation between the state and defense counsel, in consultation with the Court. We believe the disposition was appropriate given that the matter involved property damage, the property damage was minimal," and the victim was made whole by insurance.

On Dec. 17, on the prosecutor’s initiative, the case ended with a not-guilty filing, Cicilline said. By then Faria was out of office, but stewing over what he saw as an injustice.

“It’s not me just being paranoid — it’s a fact,” Faria said.

The problems with the case, Faria said, stemmed from the very first report about it. On Nov. 24, 2018, a motorist reported being rear-ended on the ramp from Warren Avenue to Route 195 west by a vehicle that took off.

Police said Faria was behind the wheel of the car that took off.

But things changed as the case progressed. The initial report said there were two people in the car that was hit. Later there were three, Cicilline said. The time of the crash changed over the course of the prosecution, he said. Crucially, the type of car that Faria was allegedly driving changed, too. Was it a Cadillac? Or a Volvo?

The original police report said the car was a Cadillac. But it was actually a Volvo, the police later said.

“It was bizarre, is the only way to explain it,” said Cicilline.

Faria is known to drive a Cadillac, but that night he was driving a Volvo — to a hotel in Connecticut. He provided evidence in the form of a hotel receipt showing, he said, that he couldn’t have been at the crash scene at the time. An “absolute alibi,” Cicilline said.

How could the report have gotten something so wrong? Faria, maintaining his innocence, says it’s because he wasn't there.

The police said it’s because of Faria’s own mischief: The license plate for Faria’s Cadillac was on his Volvo that night, they said. The officer who took the initial report plugged in the plate number, and it came up automatically as a Cadillac based on registry records. From there the officer used it elsewhere in the narrative.

“It was just a mistake, an unfortunate mistake, and it cost me a couple hours of work chasing down what happened,” said Andrew Dubois, an East Providence police officer who did a thorough follow-up investigation.

When Dubois did chase down what happened, using techniques that he learned investigating drug dealers, a clear picture emerged: Faria was driving his Volvo that night on Cadillac plates, Dubois said. Faria even called his insurance company that night, just after the crash, to switch his insurance from the Cadillac to the Volvo, Dubois said.

Cellphone location data also placed Faria at the scene, and his alibi didn’t actually show what Faria suggested, Dubois said.

Faria declined to speak about the follow-up probe, instead thanking state prosecutors for “looking beyond the politics and judging this case beyond the facts.”

But the East Providence police stand by their actions.

“I don’t understand the theory behind this,” said Chief William Nebus.

Though the misdemeanor charge of failing to stop for an accident causing damage to a vehicle is now resolved, Faria still faces a traffic tribunal case for following too closely and operating without evidence of insurance.

His arrest, three days after the crash, came at the tail end of Faria’s time as an East Providence councilman, which was eventful. He was often at odds with others in the city, and sometimes in court with them, like in the litigation over a late-night document review session at City Hall (an unfounded allegation, settled without admitting wrongdoing, Faria said) or in an investigation into bullying city workers (another unfounded allegation, Faria said).

He even had an interaction with the East Providence police that became controversial: A police officer said he became “irate” after they encountered him in his Cadillac, with a headlight out, at a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot in January 2018. Faria refused to identify himself, police said at the time, flashing his City Council-issued badge and saying: "What a great representation of this city! Do you know who I am?”

Faria says the description of that interaction was unfounded; everyone was respectful, he said. He did acknowledge his headlight was out.

Faria’s opponents were quick to note his criminal record, including multiple no-contest pleas to drug charges in the 1990s and a number of run-ins with the police over driving violations. Two of the cases ended in year-long prison sentences. Faria said he’s turned his life around, gotten help from a substance-abuse issue and become a new and better man since his younger indiscretions. The most recent drug possession no-contest plea came in 2008, but the rest were at least two decades old.

“I’ve since had a very fruitful life,” he said.

This is probably already more than you’ve ever read at once about a minor car crash on a highway ramp, but there’s still more.

The William Conley Law Firm is named for a Democratic state senator. It also employs Conley’s son, Dylan Conley.

Faria has a history with the Conleys. He defeated William Conley’s brother, Timothy, to win his first seat as a councilman. Then, once elected, Faria unsuccessfully opposed the appointment of Dylan Conley as assistant city solicitor.

He even filed a complaint with the Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel about Dylan Conley’s actions on a city government issue — Conley wrote a memo describing Faria giving an “inaccurate presentation” about streetlights. The memo mentioned an investigation into Faria’s behavior. Faria’s complaint to the Supreme Court was rejected because Conley was not his lawyer, but instead represented the council as a whole.

Given that history, Faria said another firm could have been brought in to prosecute his misdemeanor case. It’s not unheard of for a city to bring in an outside firm in the case of a conflict of interest.

But Faria never requested that the District Court disqualify the Conley firm.

Peter Margulies, a professor at Roger Williams University School of Law who was given an outline of the case, said Faria might have had a legitimate claim about a conflict of interest with the Conley firm’s involvement in his prosecution — but the time to do it was in court, before a judge, who could have applied the facts to the law.

“To support his current claim that the Conley firm was biased, Faria would need to show more specific facts about how the Conley firm handled his prosecution,” Margulies said in an email.

If there is a Faria-Conley beef, it’s only sizzling on one side, the Conleys say.

Said Dylan Conley: “I’m not aware of any disputes with Brian Faria.” He added: “I cannot fathom how any of that would rise to a conflict. I’m also fully confident that Diony [Garcia] handled the case in the ordinary course, as he does all prosecutions.”

Said William Conley: “I wish no ill will to Brian Faria. Whatever challenges he’s experiencing, I hope everything goes well for Brian Faria.”

He added he was confident Garcia handled the case professionally, but knew nothing about it.

Timothy Conley, whom Faria defeated to win his council seat, was less diplomatic: “This is the kind of stuff Brian puts out all the time to deflect his long and extensive criminal record,” he said.

Faria shot back: “Tim Conley had no issue with my character when he came to my home asking me for me for all my help, support, and personal endorsement for his upcoming general election.”

Faria is now focused on getting the last word. He’s thinking about moving and running for office again. One of his options is moving into a different Senate district, and running against William Conley.

“I think people are tired of the politics, they’re tired of the agendas, and they need a voice,” Faria said.

bamaral@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7615

On Twitter: bamaral44