PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Michael Drepaul, a key witness in a defense lawyer's recent bribery trial, is back behind bars after police say they found him possession of a stolen Cadillac Deville.
Drepaul was arrested Thursday and charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle after an officer noticed the Cadillac parked in a handicap spot at 34 Commerce St., and ran its plates, Maj. Arthur Martins said. The 1987 sedan had been reported stolen with the keys in it from George's Auto Repair in South Kingstown three days earlier, according to police.
Officers staked out the vehicle and arrested Drepaul as he went to get in it with an unidentified woman, according to reports. Drepaul had been released from prison a week earlier, where he was serving time on a federal firearms charge.
Drepaul, 31, of Providence, told police he had just purchased the car from a friend, reports show. He then said a friend he knows as Malik told him to go get the car, according to police.
A surveillance video showed the man who took the vehicle wearing a red or orange hat and a shirt similar to what Drepaul was wearing at the time of his arrest, according to police.
Police also issued Drepaul a summons for parking in a handicap spot.
Drepaul was a key state witness in the bribery trial of defense lawyer Donna Uhlmann and Jamaal Dublin. A jury on Tuesday acquitted both after a hard-fought trial in which much hinged on the jury's ability to believe the testimony of Drepaul and his girlfriend Nicole "Coco" Brown. Both testified that Drepaul had been bribed not to testify against Dublin in a stabbing case.
Drepaul is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions for allegedly violating the terms of his probation on a conspiracy charge, according to Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. He agreed to admit to conspiracy in the bribery case and was given a three-year suspended sentence with probation in exchange for his testimony against Uhlmann, Dublin and Dublin's lawyer, Gerard Donley.
Donley is serving six years in prison after being convicted of his role in the alleged scheme.