NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island police lieutenant has been convicted of altering or deleting police records and lying to help his girlfriend get public housing when she wasn’t eligible.
Middletown Lt. Richard Gamache was found guilty by a jury Wednesday of 13 of the 14 counts he faced, The Newport Daily News reported.
Gamache, 52, faced 12 felony charges of intentional access, alteration, damage or destruction of a computer and two misdemeanor counts of giving a false document to an agent, employee or public official.
He faces sentencing on April 16.
According to an internal investigation, Gamache improperly used police letterhead to tell the Newport Housing Authority his girlfriend was in imminent danger as a confidential drug informant and needed a place to stay. Police say she was not an informant.
Police also found that police department records involving the girlfriend were missing or had been altered.
Gamache’s attorney, Mark Smith, said that while his client did some “really stupid stuff,” he was motivated by love for his girlfriend and did not commit any crimes.
Gamache was suspended without pay.
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