Five people, including probate judge, are indicted in the alleged theft of sports cards, firearms

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Five people, including a local probate judge, have been indicted in connection with the alleged theft of valuable sports cards and firearms from the estate of a deceased Cranston man, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said Friday.

Neronha said the five were charged with various crimes related to the theft of items from the estate of James Barbieri. The estate included collections of sports cards with an estimated value of more than $1 million and firearms worth more than $100,000.

According to the indictment, Barbieri died on April 26, 2021, without a will. During the final days of his life, Barbieri was sedated and intubated, and two days before he died, a close friend of Barbieri began taking items from his home without legal claim.

The friend and two others allegedly sold a portion of the collection and sought buyers and transported goods to a storage unit for later sale. Separately, the owner of a gun shop allegedly sold firearms unlawfully removed from Barbieri’s estate.

The indictment alleges that Priscilla Facha DiMaio, a probate judge in the town of Johnston, filed with the Cranston Probate Court an application for approval of fiduciary and attorney’s fees for work she claimed to have performed for the Barbieri estate on five separate dates.

The claims are substantially false, investigators contend.

Three of the five people indicted have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty. DiMaio is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday.

A message left at probate court in Johnston to reach DiMaio was not immediately returned.