By Abbey Niezgoda
aniezgoda@abc6.com
Representative Leo Medina denies any wrongdoing, even though the Rhode Island State Police and the Attorney General's Office is accusing him of pretending to be a lawyer.
They say Medina offered legal services, accepted fees for those services and even advertised himself as a lawyer in the phonebook.
Medina pleaded not guilty to all 8 counts of practicing law without a license. He was released on personal recognizance.
He says he was only connecting his clients to real attorneys through his now closed business Southside Professional Services. He says he accepted money only to give it to those lawyers. Medina also claims there was a misprint in the Yellow Pages, which listed his business under legal services.
Medina says this is the result of a political ploy from his opponent Joseph Almeida. He says the Rhode Island State Police based their charges on wrong information that points back to people involved with the Almeida campaign.
This is not the first time Medina has been in trouble with the law. He is awaiting trial on embezzlement charges after he pleaded not guilty to that back in March.
House Speaker Gordon Fox is calling on Medina to suspend his campaign for re-election while he works through the allegations.
