Maura E. Curley - Duck in a Raincoat: An Unauthorized Portrait of Joe Ricci

THIS IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. IT MAY NOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE UNLESS PRIOR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION IS GIVEN BY THE AUTHOR, MAURA CURLEY OR THE PUBLISHER, DANIEL BOSTDORF. ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN CANNOT BE SHARED WITH ANYONE EITHER BY PRINTING HARD COPY AND/OR FORWARDING THE CONTENTS OF THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS BOOK.

FOR PERMISSION: 1-340-693-8883 OR EMAIL: yelruc@islands.vi

The price of continuing to receive the on-line email version of this book is $14.00. This may be paid in money order or check. Make payable to Maura Curley and send to: 1-1-14#1 Grunwald, St John USVI 00830

Duck In A Raincoat

An Unauthorized Portrait

Of Joe Ricci

By Maura Curley

Menukie Press

This is an in-depth look at Joe RicciThe man who made the headlines. He persuaded 60 Minutes to broadcast a flattering segment about his life, a jury to award him $15 million, and prominent parents and judges to send children to his treatment center for troubled adolescents. He also asked voters of Maine to elect him their governor.

Joe Ricci had been likened to a character from Horatio Algers tales. But things were not as they appeared Heres the behind the scenes story the story media missed.

o

This unauthorized portrait of Joe Ricci is the product of more than 300 interviews and nearly three years of intense research.

Former employees at his racetrack, staffers and residents at his Elan center for troubled adolescents, lovers, relatives, childhood friends, attorneys, a judge, and a former business partner of

20 years reveal the underpinnings of his personality.

Inside These Pages ..

.* Former staffers admit to abusing residents at Riccis Elan center for troubled teens, and participating in a cover-up?

Proof that Ricci committed perjury during the trial which netted him a $15 million jury verdict

.

• How the NEW YORK TIMES erroneously reported information about charitable organizations Ricci set up which really didnt exist.

*How the 60 MINUTES portrayal of him was misleading and inaccurate .

• Eyewitness accounts of how Ricci shot up his racetrack grandstand with his Uzi machine gun ?

• His ex-wifes revelations of how he sued her insurance company and used the money to buy her an engagement ring?

• The details of his cocaine party the night before he declared his candidacy for governor

• How he was involved in a postal robbery and went to a drug rehabilitation center to avoid federal prison?

• Incidences of his terrorizing employees with threatening phone calls

r

Copyright 1991 by Maura Curley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form electronic or mechanical,

photocopying, facsimile, recording, or by

any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the Publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Curley, Maura E.

Duck In A Raincoat

CIP # 91-090294

ISBN-EAN/BOOKLAND

0-9629522-0-6

First Paperback Edition

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Building An Empire

Chapter 2

You should dance with the one who brung ya.

Chapter 3

Cash Cow

Chapter 4

The Therapeutic Community

Chapter 5

In Their Own Words

Chapter 6

Dont turn your back on a sleeping tiger.

Chapter 7

Conspiracies Abound

Part II

Chapter 8

Cosmic Convergence

Chapter 9

Stageset

Chapter 10

Duck In A Raincoat

Chapter 11

just feeling aggressive.

Chapter 12

Politics As Usual

Chapter 13

Appropriated Virtue

Chapter 14

Whos Zoomin Who?

Part III

Chapter 15

An Elite Hit Squad?

Chapter 16

Fighting for the People

Chapter 17

Mind Games

Chapter 18

You gotta put in all in perspective.

Chapter 19

Behind the scenes: The 60 MINUTES Interview

Part III Continued

Chapter 20

Whatta ya think Im gonna do breakdown?

Chapter 21

the days of sandbagging me are over

Chapter 22

like a dentist with no teeth.

Chapter 23

but I cant take back the cruelty I inflict

Chapter 24

Theres a treacherous road ahead

Chapter 25

Theres no joy in Mudville

Chapter 26

Stay well and fight back

Chapter 27

The coup is complete.

Part IV

Chapter 28

Im a Roosevelt Democrat.

Chapter 29

Im a fuckin animal

Chapter 30

Eumenides

Chapter 31

Cult Of Personality

Chapter 32

like clapping at a funeral

Chapter 33

Psychopath

Epilogue

DUCK IN A RAIN COAT

A Fable For Our Time

There once was a mallard who thrived on water

but didnt want others to know this simple fact. He hoped

they wouldnt realize he swam in it with relish,

and even went so far as to don a raincoat during a thunderstorm

The moral : Things are seldom what they appear to be.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are many people who have helped make this book possible by either talking freely about their own experiences, or putting me in touch with those who would. I know it was not easy to resurrect the ghosts of the past, and make the details part of public record. I admire those who transcended their own fears, and shared their lives with me. I also understand those who just couldnt.

Trying to unearth information that spanned more than four decades required much assistance from public record keepers and others, who knew or had dealings with Joe Ricci. I appreciate their role too in helping me find the facts.

Writing a book like this one has been difficultI have wrestled with what to discard, and what to include in order to protect the innocent, or merely the misguided. I hope I have been sensitive enough

Throughout this process it was heartening to have the constant encouragement of a few close friends whom I shall not name. They know who they are. Just being a sounding board, and urging me to plough forward made a difference.

I want to thank you all.

INTRODUCTION

On April 13, 1987 a federal jury in Portland, Maine awarded Joe Ricci $15 million because of a suit he filed against his bank for wrongfully terminating his credit. The jurys award, the largest verdict ever in the state of Maine, set a national precedent. Joe had filed his claim nearly five years earlier, when his line of credit was canceled because of an FBI rumor that linked him to the Mafia, and indicated his involvement in a gangland killing.

He was ecstatic that April afternoon. Dressed in jeans, leather jacket, and cowboy hat, he looked like a folk hero, smiling at the TV cameras and talking into the many microphones crowded around him.

But Joes road to those court house steps had been paved with broken relationships, lies, alcohol, drug abuse, and a failed gubernatorial campaign. In his struggle to get his day in court he left emotional corpses in his wake.

Joe moved to Maine in the early 70s to open Elan, a for-profit treatment center for troubled adolescents that soon made him, and his psychiatrist partner, Dr. Gerald Davidson, very wealthy men. The two entrepreneurs branched out into real estate, and other interests. In 1979 they formed another company, Davric Maine, and purchased Scarborough Downs, a harness racetrack for $1.2 million.

Watching a jubilant Joe after he beat the bank one could see no trace of the narcissistic, cunning and often cruel man some knew. He seemed to be unselfishly talking about a victory, not for himself, but for civil rights. I think the people of Maine made a statement about rights, he exclaimed.