The former majority leader of the Rhode Island General Assembly, Gerard Martineau, entered a guilty plea to two counts of honest services fraud for taking nearly $900,000.  The criminal information (available below) identifies the payors as "The Pharmacy" and "The Health Insurance Company," and a Providence Journal article (here) names CVS and Blue Cross as the ones who paid Martineau.  The payments were disguised as contracts to purchase paper and plastic prescription bags from a company that Martineau controlled.  In exchange, Martineau helped block "freedom of choice" legislation that would allow consumers to purchase prescriptions from any pharmacy, which would hurt CVS and Blue Cross, both of which operated restricted pharmacy benefits networks.  The case resulted from an ongoing investigation of corruption in the Rhode Island legislature called "Operation Dollar Bill," and a state Senator previously entered a guilty plea to accepting bribes.  (ph)

Download us_v. Martineau Criminal Information October 2007.pdf