PROVIDENCE, R.I.—State police have arrested a former Lincoln town official for allegedly hiring a man to beat his political rival in 2001.
Detectives arrested 61-year-old Robert Picerno on Wednesday and charged him with conspiracy and threats to a public official.
State Police Maj. Joseph Miech alleges Picerno paid one of two men who assaulted former Lincoln Town Councilman Dean Lees outside a Providence store. Two men were convicted in the attack.
Now detectives say they have evidence Picerno orchestrated it.
Picerno is a former member of the Lincoln Planning Board who was sentenced to three years in prison for taking bribes in exchange for favors. A co-defendant, Jonathan Oster, committed suicide in February after a jury found him guilty in the same case.
