Cedric Cromwell, Bribery, Massachusetts 2022

BOSTON – The former Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the owner of an architecture-and-design firm in Providence, R.I. were sentenced today for bribery relating to the Tribe’s plans to build a resort and casino in Taunton, Mass.

Cedric Cromwell, 57, of Attleboro, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to three years in prison and one year of supervised release. David DeQuattro, 56, of Warwick, R.I., was sentenced by Judge Woodlock to one year of probation to be spent in home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Cromwell and DeQuattro were each also ordered to pay fines in the amounts of $25,000 and $50,000, respectively. Cromwell continues to face four remaining charges of filing a false tax return.

On May 5, 2022, the defendants were convicted by a federal jury following a 10-day trial. Specifically, Cromwell was convicted of two counts of accepting bribes as an agent of an Indian tribal government, three counts of extortion under color of official right and one count of conspiring to commit extortion. DeQuattro was convicted of one count of paying a bribe to an agent of an Indian tribal government.

Cromwell was the Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and President of the Tribe’s Gaming Authority. DeQuattro’s architecture-and-design company signed a contract to serve as the Gaming Authority’s owner representative for the First Light Resort and Casino, which the Tribe was building in Taunton.

Cromwell accepted three bribes from DeQuattro in exchange for an agreement to protect DeQuattro’s firm’s contract: $10,000 in November 2015; a Bowflex Revolution home gym in August 2016; and a weekend stay at an upscale Boston hotel in May 2017. DeQuattro was found guilty of bribing Cromwell with regard to the Bowflex and the hotel stay.

The case was reversed on September 27, 2024, by the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Attorney stated that it was her hope that today’s sentence brings accountability to the Mashpee Wampanoag community. Cromwell abused his elected position and betrayed the trust of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe by seeking to monetize his position of power at every turn.

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