Pay a Charity, Skip the Courthouse: South Kingstown Police Ran a ‘Long-Standing’ Off-the-Books Way to Make Arrests Go Away, and Now the Town’s Failed Discipline Case Is Headed to Federal Court

What happened

On Oct. 22, South Kingstown Police Lt. James Krajewski sued the police department, Chief Matthew Moynihan and the town in federal court in Providence, alleging malicious prosecution among other claims (NBC 10; docket 1:26-cv-00785). His lawyer, Lisa Holley, told NBC 10 she would file a similar suit Friday for Lt. Bethany Dolock.

The suit grows out of a practice that the lawsuit itself describes. According to NBC 10, it states: “The conduct at issue was a long-standing practice of the Department’s Prosecution Division, which Lt. Krajewski inherited, of resolving certain minor, first-offense cases through voluntary charitable donations, community service, or both. No police officer personally received money in exchange for dismissing a charge.”

How it worked, according to NBC 10’s sources

In September 2025, the I-Team reported that the department had suspended both lieutenants, its prosecution officers, with pay. Sources said the officers “allegedly contacted some people who had been arrested, with an offer for their case not to be resolved without going to court in return for a donation to a local charity.” According to NBC 10, “The arrangement meant those people who were arrested were not charged with a crime, didn’t go to court, and didn’t have their names entered into the court system where it would become a public record.” The arrests were for misdemeanor-level crimes, and the donations were “typically in the hundreds of dollars.” NBC 10 also reported: “There is no allegation that the officers enriched themselves.”

At the time, Moynihan wrote that “the officers’ conduct constituted egregious administrative violations of several department policies.” NBC 10 legal analyst Austin Dana asked: “Why are certain people given the opportunity to never go to the courthouse and never be there for an arraignment? And then another question is, where is the paperwork? Who is keeping tabs on who is making the contributions, whether the case should be dismissed or not dismissed?”

Then the case fell apart

In January 2026, NBC 10 reported that the department had dropped the allegations after disciplinary hearings began. The department’s attorney, Vincent Ragosta, wrote that the case “encountered unanticipated evidentiary and legal challenges.” He said the decision was not an exoneration, and both lieutenants were moved out of the prosecution unit.

A letter from the union’s lawyer, Carly Iafrate, said the chief’s decision “triggered a massive waste of time, money and resources” and that “there were no policies addressing the things that the Chief believed were problematic.” Moynihan said the department now has “a new policy that requires all criminal complaints to be presented to the District Court for adjudication and prohibits dismissals without court oversight.” The officers’ union voted “no confidence” in Moynihan in 2024.

What the lawsuit claims

According to NBC 10, the suit says Krajewski was told he was “under investigation for a crime” though there was never a criminal investigation. It says the AG’s Office and the U.S. Attorney declined to bring charges after Moynihan contacted them, and that “Moynihan acted intentionally, maliciously and with reckless disregard for Lt. Krajewski’s rights.” Krajewski is seeking damages and an order requiring the town to clear his name in a public statement.

Response: NBC 10 reports Moynihan said Thursday afternoon that he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and had no response, and he referred NBC 10 to the town solicitor. Moynihan is set to retire in early November.

Update (Oct 26, 2026): Second Suit Filed; GoLocal Reports the Details

Lt. Bethany Dolock has filed her own federal suit. GoLocalProv reported Monday that Krajewski and Dolock “have not only sued the town of South Kingstown, but the police department; they have also sued Moynihan personally,” and that the two suits “are similar, but some facts differ.” The federal docket on CourtListener lists Dolock v. Town of South Kingstown Police Department, No. 1:26-cv-00797 (D.R.I.), filed Oct. 23, 2026. GoLocal reports that both officers hold the rank of lieutenant.

More from the complaints, as quoted by GoLocal (allegations, not findings):

• Krajewski’s suit says he was suspended in February 2025 and kept out of work until Dec. 15, 2025. It also says that when the charges were withdrawn, “Chief Moynihan wrote that the withdrawal ‘should not be construed as an exoneration,’ leaving the accusations standing without any forum in which Lt. Krajewski could clear his name.”
• Dolock’s suit quotes a May 15, 2025 letter from the Attorney General’s chief of staff, Blake Collins: “Our office is not investigating these individuals. We do not believe that the conduct described to our office about these two individuals amounted to criminal activity.”
• Dolock’s suit also alleges Moynihan gave conflicting sworn accounts of what prosecutors told him. It says one later account, that an AG official had told him a crime had been committed, is “contradicted by the Attorney General’s Office’s May 15, 2025 written statement.”
• Dolock’s suit says “94% of the members of the police union voted no confidence in Chief Moynihan” in April 2024.
• GoLocal lists the claims across the two suits as including deprivation of liberty without due process, First Amendment retaliation, violation of the Rhode Island Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, abuse of process, malicious prosecution and defamation.

The chief’s exit: GoLocal reports Moynihan’s last day is scheduled for Nov. 4, 2026, and that Moynihan and Town Manager Jim Manni deny the departure is tied to conflict in the department. GoLocal notes the two have a decades-long history from their years leading the Rhode Island State Police. Neither statement GoLocal published addresses the lawsuits.

Update (Oct 31, 2026): The Chief Responds; Suit Says the Town Solicitor Knew

Moynihan is now on the record. WPRI 12 News reported Friday night that Moynihan told the station the withdrawal of the charges “did not constitute exoneration or a finding that the underlying allegations were unfounded,” and added: “The town did the right thing in trying to hold these officers accountable for their actions.” He declined further comment, citing the pending litigation. (Our original report noted that on Oct. 22 he told NBC 10 he hadn’t seen the suit.)

New details from the complaints, as reported by WPRI (allegations, not findings):

• Krajewski’s complaint runs 70 pages and Dolock’s 106. Krajewski says he has been the department’s prosecution officer since February 2015 and that the only written guidance was a two-paragraph section of the department’s rules and regulations.
• Krajewski says his predecessor, Lt. Mark Healy, taught him to resolve some minor first-offense cases with dismissals in exchange for nonprofit donations, community service or both. According to the suit, Healy later testified that the alternative-disposition practices “absolutely were common” and that the town solicitor was aware of them.
• The suit says Moynihan admitted under oath that he had “no evidence” Krajewski was personally paid from the donation-based resolutions, or that Krajewski had any relationship with a recipient organization.
• Dolock says the practice was “well known, widely accepted and passed down in writing by prior prosecution officers.”
• Both complaints say union leaders told Town Manager James Manni about the April 2024 no-confidence vote and their concerns about the chief, and that the town “took no corrective action.”
• Moynihan’s Dec. 9, 2025 withdrawal letter, quoted by WPRI, called the move “a pragmatic determination not to pursue employment discipline predicated on various considerations.”
• Both lieutenants want damages, a name-clearing hearing and a jury trial. Moynihan’s last day remains Nov. 4.