15-03-2025
Cranston man pleads no contest in improper solicitation for Barrington police union fund
A Cranston man working for a fundraising company pleaded no contest to charges in what authorities said was a scheme to encourage donations to the Barrington police officers' union by referring to the deaths of a Barrington mother and son in a plane crash.
Edward Lima, 54, had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of obtaining money under false pretenses under $1,500.
Lima worked for a company called TCI America, which contracted with the police union for its annual fundraising campaign. The use of a contracted company to raise funds for public safety unions is commonplace, said Police Chief Col. Michael E. Correia in announcing Lima's arrest and the result of an investigation.
'At no time did any member of the Barrington Police union authorize TCI America or any of their employees to use the Lane family to encourage a donation," Correia said last month.
Sixteen-year-old figure skater Spencer Lane and his mother, Christine Conrad Lane, were killed in a midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29. They were among the 67 people on board a passenger jet that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River.
Lima turned himself in and received a one-year suspended sentence and one year probation, said Correia.
TCI fully cooperated with the investigation, and two people who donated to the fund after Lima's encouragements were reimbursed, said Correia.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Man sentenced in scheme to seek donations in name of crash victims
