38 Studios Investigation Concludes, No Criminal Charges

After a four-year investigation, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilman and State Police Colonel Steven O’Donnell announced in a press conference on Friday that they would not be filing any charges against former 38 Studios employees or any officials involved in the $75 million loan deal that was negotiated between the video game developer (for the development of Project Copernicus) and the state of Rhode Island. A report of what was stated at the press conference is up on WPRI (thanks Gamasutra), allowing us to glean further details:

“We do not possess the luxury of just being emotional when it comes to matters such as this,” Kilmartin said, raising his voice occasionally as he defended the decision to reporters. The attorney general, a Democrat in his second term, said he is as frustrated as other Rhode Islanders but insisted only “cynics” would fail to understand the decision.

O’Donnell added that “a bad deal does not always equate to an indictment.”

Their eight-page explanation concluded by saying that “the quantity and quality of the evidence of any criminal activity fell short of what would be necessary to prove any allegation beyond a reasonable doubt and as such the Rules of Professional Conduct precluded even offering a criminal charge for grand jury consideration.”

38 Studios, a video game company founded by former Red Sox star Curt Schilling, collapsed in 2012 after receiving a $75-million loan backed by Rhode Island taxpayers. A criminal investigation into the deal has been in progress since shortly after the company’s bankruptcy.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Gina Raimondo – who already reneged on a pledge she made during her 2014 campaign to order an independent probe of 38 Studios – said she was briefed on the decision and “has no plans to call for an additional investigation.”

To the likely frustration of many, Kilmartin also said he would not support releasing the information about 38 Studios collected during the grand-jury investigation the way his predecessor Patrick Lynch did after the Station nightclub fire.

Kilmartin said the 38 Studios case is not actually being closed and charges could be filed someday if more information is discovered, so the evidence should remain secret; he declined to suggest how much longer the case would be open or whether he would support releasing the information once it’s finally closed. He also noted that there were indictments in the Station case, unlike in this one.