Reaction: Former Rep. Gallison to plead guilty to felony charges

The felony charges that Former Rep. Ray Gallison now admits to committing left a lasting impact on many local people including Patricia Read, the Vice President at the Massasoit Historical Association in Warren.

The association is one of the many charities that was supposed to receive money from the estate of Ray Medley which was formerly handled by Ray Gallison.

"I would be cross except for it does no good. This is a sad thing,” said Read.

Gallison now admits to taking more than $678,000 from the estate. Five of the nine felony counts he faces have to do with this.

In the wake of this news, Read says it’s obvious that the former Rep. lied to her on many occasions.

"He kept fobbing me off with reasons why the estate had not been settled,” said Read.

Several red flags regarding Gallison’s handling of Medley’s estate led fellow attorney Thomas Wright to take over this summer. Even though he knew Gallison was up to something illegal, the extent of the fraud came as a shock.

"I was a little surprised the money he did take from the estate especially the fact that he was actually signing dividend checks in his own name that kind of shocked me a bit. Also, I was disturbed by the fact that he was using his credit card,” said Wright.

Gallison is just the latest Rhode Island lawmaker in a long list to be arrested recently on criminal charges. RI GOP Chair Brandon Bell says this type of behavior needs to stop.

"I think it’s a really sad day in Rhode Island and I’m particularly sad that we keep seeing this over and over and over again it’s like groundhog day,” said Bell.
Gallison served as Finance Chair under the leadership team of House Speaker Nick Mattiello. Mattiello issued a statement  following the release of the charges reading in part, "Elected officials must be held to the highest standard.  When they cross the line, they should be investigated and prosecuted."

(C) WLNE 2017