![[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] Solicitor Stephen Angell tells the April 8 Town Council crowd that he reported Councilman Scott Copley's threat to "skull fuck" Council President Hilary Lima.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Scott-Copley-Skull-Fuck-Threat.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
![[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] Solicitor Stephen Angell tells the April 8 Town Council crowd that he reported a Councilman Scott Copley threat to Council President Hilary Lima.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Scott-Copley-Skull-Fuck-Threat-336x272.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
COVENTRY, RI — An investigation right into a reported March 21 risk by former Coventry Dist. 5 Town Councilman Scott Copley towards Council President Hilary Lima with the RI Legal professional Common’s workplace is earlier than a grand jury, Lima reviews.
Saturday, Lima mentioned {that a} Coventry Police officer knowledgeable her the case is now earlier than a Grand Jury. A spokesman for the RI Legal professional Common’s workplace declined to substantiate the event, noting their coverage prevents commenting on grand jury issues, together with confirming if one has been convened or not.
The risk, repeated in open session by Solicitor Stephen Angel throughout the April 8 Town Council meeting, referenced sexual violence, that Copley was going to “cranium fuck” Lima, as instructed to him by Council Vice President JP Verducci. Verducci mentioned Copley uttered the risk towards Lima throughout a heated dialogue of the upcoming April assembly. Copley was agitated over his and Dist. 3 Councilman James LeBlanc’s makes an attempt to entry un-redacted invoices for Angell’s providers. The 2 resigned previous to the April 8 assembly in protest over their pissed off makes an attempt at entry.
Coventry Police in the end turned their investigation of the risk over to RI Legal professional Common Peter Neronha’s workplace, however not earlier than their very own investigation into the risk, lately launched to WarwickPost.com in response to an Entry to Public Information Act request.
The report about that investigation offers few extra particulars in regards to the risk, spoken to Verducci over the cellphone with none obvious witnesses, in accordance with Verducci. Angell reported the risk to Coventry Police after listening to about it from Verducci as the 2 mentioned the heated tempers in regards to the bill situation, he mentioned April 8, a element repeated within the report.
![CREDIT: Scott Copley for Dist. 5] Scott Copley recently resigned from the Coventry Dist. 5 Town Council seat. The RI AG's office is investigating a reported Copley threat to Council president Hilary Lima, which Copley denies.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Scott-Copley-Coventry-Dist.5-Race.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
Within the report, CPD Lt. Graham MacCoy writes that Copley’s lawyer, Timothy Williamson, spoke to him through cellphone April 1 when he requested to talk with Copley in regards to the alleged risk. In that dialog, MacCoy wrote, Williamson mentioned Copley denied threatening Lima, and mentioned he had commented, “In the course of the cellphone name dialog that the city was getting “cranium fucked” as a result of what was occurring politically within the City and with Mr. Angell.”
Williamson additionally denied MacCoy’s request to interview Copley on the station, providing to e-mail Copley’s assertion on his dialog with Verducci, in accordance with the report.
Coventry Police issued a no -trespass order towards Copley forbidding him from visiting Lima’s residence, on Lima’s insistence, On April 1.
On April 3, Williamson emailed MacCoy, writing,
Lt. MacCoy:
Please see Mr. Copley’s assertion with the hooked up exhibit.
Additionally, pursuant to our dialog yesterday, I might respect it if the CPD wouldn’t honor the request of Council President Lima a in regards to the No Trespass Warning. It will seem that City Solicitor Angel’s presentation to the police division was depending on triple rumour: Verducci, Lima and Angell. As such, there wouldn’t look like any possible trigger/ affordable suspicion for mentioned warning to be given. Thanks on your help on this matter.”
Timothy A. Williamson Esq.”
MacCoy additionally included Copley’s written assertion in regards to the reported risk, dated April 2:
“On March 21, 2025, I had a personal phone dialog with John Paul Verducci. We’re each elected officers serving on the Coventry City Council. Mr. Verducci is the City Council Vice President.
All the dialog was in regards to the present state of affairs inside our native authorities: in regards to the City Council President’s actions, conduct, and conduct as an elected official that a few of us consider are in violation of regulation. The dialog additionally handled our City Solicitor’s actions, conduct, and conduct. Moreover, a lot of the dialog was relating to my request to have sure issues positioned on the Council’s agenda for the March 25, 2025, City Council Assembly. (PLEASE SE THE ATTACHED EXHIBIT 1)
On the earlier March 11.2025 Coventry City Council assembly, tempers flared in public, whereby there have been a big variety of variations of opinion associated to the City Council President and City Solicitor Stephen Angell’s association relating to the overview and approval of the Solicitor’s authorized billing and different issues which are believed to be in violation of regulation.
My phone dialog with the City Council Vice President handled these City Council points and City Council points alone. At no time did I make any threats towards anybody, particularly Hillary Lima. Most, if not all, of the dialog mentioned the City Council’s incapacity as a City Council to overview Atty. Angell’s un-redacted authorized payments and different governmental issues.
Another feedback that had been made had been instantly associated to, and about, the City Council; in that we had been wanting like fools and that there have been violations of the RI Structure, Rhode Island Common Legal guidelines, Coventry House Rule Constitution, and Coventry’s Code of Ordinances.”
Copley Risk Investigation Notes Worry amongst Council Members
MacCoy’s report mentions that Verducci mentioned he and different members of the City Council have voiced considerations with one another relating to their worry of Copley’s conduct and outbursts and are afraid of what he could do.
Copley’s final public interplay with police was in the course of the 2018 election, when West Greenwich Police arrested him for eradicating State Sen. Leo Raptakis’s (D -Dist. 33 – Coventry, West Greenwich) political indicators from so much he mentioned he had been given unique entry to whereas working towards the longtime state senator. Williamson represented Copley in that case as properly, and the fees had been later dropped, according to a Providence Journal report. Copley instructed the Journal he would search to have the report of his arrest expunged as a result of his curiosity in out-of-state pistol permits. The state courtroom system not exhibits any report of the arrest.
In keeping with U.S. Courts, grand juries concentrate on preliminary legal issues solely and assesses proof introduced by a prosecutor to find out whether or not there may be “possible trigger” to consider a person dedicated a criminal offense and ought to be placed on trial. If the grand jury determines there may be sufficient proof, an indictment will probably be issued towards the person. Grand juries usually have 16- 23 members, and their proceedings are non-public.
A duplicate of the Coventry Police report has been hooked up to this text.
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