A 51-year-old Newport woman is facing fraud charges after turning herself in to state police on Friday, in a case that started as a barracks investigation and ended with her arraignment the same evening.
According to state police, Anne Varisco walked into the Hope Valley Barracks on Oct. 9, 2026, and was arrested at 5:10 p.m. She's charged with access to computer for fraudulent purposes and obtaining property by false pretenses or personation over $10,000, a felony-level charge tied to the dollar amount involved.
State police say the case grew out of an investigation run out of the barracks itself, though they haven't released details about what led them to Varisco or how the alleged fraud was carried out. She was processed and special arraigned by a justice of the peace, then released with a notice to appear in Third Division District Court.
As someone who lives in this corner of Rhode Island and covers it for neighbors rather than passersby, I know how often Hope Valley Barracks ends up in the local police blotter for cases that started somewhere else entirely, in this instance all the way in Newport.
In a separate matter out of the same barracks, troopers also arrested Eric Forant, 47, of Pawtucket, at 10:42 p.m. that same night. Forant was picked up on a Providence Superior Court bench warrant, issued after he failed to appear for a review hearing on an original forgery and counterfeiting charge brought by Pawtucket police. His arrest happened during a traffic stop on Main Street in West Warwick. He was brought to the Hope Valley Barracks for processing before being handed over to the Adult Correctional Institution's Men's Intake Center.
What it means for residents
For folks in Hope Valley and the surrounding towns, these arrests are a reminder that the barracks handles cases that stretch across the state, not just local incidents. Varisco's charges involve a significant dollar threshold, over $10,000, which is why they carry weight in court. Forant's case shows how a routine traffic stop in West Warwick can turn into an arrest tied to an old warrant from another town entirely.
Varisco is due in Third Division District Court, though no date has been specified. Forant has been turned over to the ACI Men's Intake Center to await further proceedings on his original Pawtucket charges.
Source: Newport Dispatch
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