PROVIDENCE — Dozens of people lined up outside Courtroom 14 at the Licht Judicial Complex Tuesday for their moment before the judge overseeing court fees, fines and restitution.
Superior Court Judge Maureen B. Keough asked about their substance abuse treatment, jobs, lives and urged a middle-aged man to pay up so he can leave his monthly courthouse visits behind.
One visitor stood out, not only for the sheer amount of restitution he owes — just shy of $12 million — but for the scope of his misdeeds: One out of every three Rhode Islanders was hurt by his thievery at the time of his crimes.
Once a year, once-fugitive banker Joseph Mollicone Jr. checks in with the court for a restitution review — a requirement that was waived in 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic, because he makes his monthly payments so reliably, according to Craig N. Berke, spokesman for the judiciary.
“It’s my responsibility,” Mollicone said Tuesday before his court appearance. “I accept that. I keep up with my payments.”
Keough observed that Mollicone pays consistently but questioned why the amount dropped to $250 from $270 a month in April 2020.
Mollicone said he believed his monthly payment was supposed to equal 10% of his income, or $250. Paying $270 a month, he said, would be difficult.
Keough bumped the required payment amount up to $270 and told Mollicone to come back June 28 for a review.
“I’ll do my best,” Mollicone said.
As of Nov. 23, Mollicone had paid $15,100 toward…
