Washington Bridge contractor Walsh signs non-prosecution agreement with DOJ over false claims

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — There are currently zero companies in the state of Rhode Island that can rebuild the Washington Bridge. No Rhode Island contractor is getting approved for bid bonds over $50 million without an out-of-state joint venture partner. Based on that fact alone we should be catering to out-of-state contractors…but are we?

Walsh Construction is poised to start reconstruction this year. Walsh is a Chicago based industry giant who just signed a $1.5 million non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice for false claims. Their attorney? Michael Connolly with Hinkley Allen. Barletta Heavy Division just signed a similar NPA with the DOJ for the exact same amount. Their attorney? Michael Connolly with Hinkley Allen.

Neither DOJ investigation spanned the aisle to include OSHA. In fact, the DOJ kept both cases to maximize the funds coming into specific agencies. Both NPAs were constructed almost identically by design, using the same local attorney. Hinkley Allen has been turning out settlements exactly like this for decades. Mike Connolly’s old law partner, Jeremy Ritzenberg, became the attorney for Cardi Corp right before Hinkley Allen started taking on these cases. One attorney representing the in state company that was allowed to run unchecked and the other representing the out-of-state companies the state was running through the gauntlet. Lining their pockets with taxpayers money.

RIDOT is not hiding the fact that the 100 year old eastbound side of the Washington Bridge, that we are currently running six lanes of traffic’s over, will need to be rebuilt next. While RIDOT struggles to hide the full Mt. Hope Bridge report, Rhode Islanders are left wondering where all the RIDOT budget is going. How many bridges have to come down before we audit that state department? London Bridges falling down might be getting a Rhode Island remix if we don’t.