Bribery conviction of former R.I. medical executive Robert Urciuoli upheld

A federal appeals court panel Tuesday upheld former Roger Williams Medical Center chief executive officer Robert A. Urciuoli's conviction for bribing a Rhode Island state senator to promote the hospital?s political agenda at the State House.

Three judges from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — including retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter — rejected Urciuoli?s arguments that the government had failed to prove that the hospital?s payments to then-Sen. John A. Celona were, in fact, a bribe and that the jury had not received proper instructions before it began deliberations.