April 12, 2019 - 3:20 PM
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A former state senator has been sentenced to two years in federal prison on bank fraud and tax charges.
Rhode Island's U.S. Attorney, Aaron Weisman, says 47-year-old James Doyle, of Pawtucket, was sentenced Friday.
Weisman says Doyle engaged in a $74 million dollar check-kiting scheme in which he wrote tens of thousands of worthless checks and failed to report more than $1 million dollars in income and pay taxes.
Doyle was charged with 31 counts of bank fraud, one court of filing a false tax return and one count of failing to file a tax return.
Prosecutors say he wrote checks from a bank account despite not having sufficient funds, deposited them in other banks and withdrew the funds.
The Democrat resigned from the Senate last year, citing struggles with alcohol.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019