Kevin Jackson, who once held the second highest post on the Providence City Council, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 18 months in prison for embezzling more than $125,000 from a youth sports group he founded, the Providence Cobras, and using for personal use about $12,000 from his campaign fund.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of three years in prison.
Jackson, a Democrat, addressed the court ahead of his sentence. He said he was ashamed of what he did. “I apologize to the court, the state and everyone else I let down,” he said.
In arguing for a longer sentence, Assistant Attorney General Paul Carnes said Jackson had committed a serious violation of the public trust.
Superior Court Judge Brian Stern ordered Jackson to serve his sentence at the state Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, starting January 14. Jackson, 60, will be allowed to leave the prison to work during the day. Stern said Jackson’s earnings will go toward restitution and paying for the cost of his incarceration.
Stern pointed to an array of factors, including Jackson’s absence of a previous criminal record and how 51 letters were sent to the court on his behalf, some of them heartfelt descriptions of how Jackson had counseled people against using drugs and helped young people avoid going to prison.
The former councilor from Providence’s Mount Hope section was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, along with a total of $117,000 in restitution. Of that amount, $105,000 will be held by the state with the intention of directing it to charity and $12,000 will go to the state Board of Elections to promote awareness about campaign finance regulations.
In court, Jackson said he recognized that “everyone says that they are sorry when they get caught, but for me it took this to happen for me to realize that what I was doing was wrong. For so many years I commingled my own money with the money from the Cobras. There was no reason behind this decision, but it was merely for convenience.”
The former councilor said by his estimate he made a positive difference in the lives of one thousand young people.
“None of that compares to how ashamed I am for how I failed those same individuals,” he said. “I make this promise to the court and to anyone else that is listening: that I will spend the rest of my life continuing to do the work that I have set out for these children to make up for all of my mistakes.”
Jackson said the Providence Cobras will be incorporate as a nonprofit and a board of directors will be assembled to guide the group.
David Salvatore, the outgoing president of the Providence City Council, offered this comment on the sentencing: “Today marks the conclusion of a sad chapter in Providence’s history. For far too long, city government in our capital city has been under a cloud of suspicion and shame as a litany of elected officials were charged with felonies. As the judicial process winds down on this and other pending matters, I hope our city can move forward.”
In a statement, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin said, “Kevin Jackson used both his campaign account and the Cobras account as his personal piggy bank. He violated the trust of his constituents, and in some ways worse, used the reputation of the Providence Cobras Track Club, an organization created to provide inner-city youth with the opportunity to participate in and compete at a high level, to further his lavish lifestyle.”
Jackson and his defense team declined comment after the sentencing hearing.
Jackson was the longest serving member of the Providence City Council when he was arrested in 2016. That was after he became majority leader, the second ranking position on the council, in 2015.
One of Jackson’s lawyers, David Calabro, said he didn’t intend to minimize Jackson’s crimes, but he said they amounted mostly to a matter of awful bookkeeping. While prosecutors likened Jackson’s case to the corruption of former House speaker Gordon Fox, Calabro said, “[This] is not a Gordon Fox case. There were no bribes here.”
Jackson lost his Ward 3 council seat during a recall election after he was arrested and charged in the embezzlement case. Ward 3 is now represented by Nirva LaFortune, considered an up-and-comer in Providence politics.
This post has been updated.
