PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former Rhode Island Gov. Edward DiPrete, who served as the state’s chief executive for six years and was later jailed for corruption, has died. He was 91.
Robert Murray, DiPrete’s former chief of staff, confirmed that the Republican died Tuesday after celebrating his 91st birthday with family.
DiPrete, a Republican, served as the state’s 70th governor from January 1985 until January 1991.
Less than a decade later, he became the first and only former Rhode Island governor to go to prison, having pleaded guilty to bribery, extortion and racketeering charges stemming from his time as the state’s chief executive.
DiPrete served one year in prison. After his 1999 release, the former governor said he hoped Rhode Islanders would still remember his accomplishments as governor.
“I hope historians 25 years from now will say that was a good period in time from a person who did make some