Lima: Copley Threat Investigation Before Grand Jury

COVENTRY, RI — An investigation into a reported March 21 threat by former Coventry Dist. 5 Town Councilman Scott Copley against Council President Hilary Lima with the RI Attorney General’s office is before a grand jury, Lima reports.

Saturday, Lima said that a Coventry Police officer informed her the case is now before a Grand Jury.  A spokesman for the RI Attorney General’s office declined to confirm the development, noting their policy prevents commenting on grand jury matters, including confirming if one has been convened or not.

The threat, repeated in open session by Solicitor Stephen Angel during the April 8 Town Council meeting, referenced sexual violence, that Copley was going to “skull fuck” Lima, as told to him by Council Vice President JP Verducci. Verducci said Copley uttered the threat against Lima during a heated discussion of the upcoming April meeting. Copley was agitated over his and Dist. 3 Councilman James LeBlanc’s attempts to access un-redacted invoices for Angell’s services. The two resigned prior to the April 8 meeting in protest over their frustrated attempts at access.

Coventry Police ultimately turned their investigation of the threat over to RI Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office, but not before their own investigation into the threat, recently released to WarwickPost.com in response to an Access to Public Records Act request.

The report about that investigation provides few additional details about the threat, spoken to Verducci over the phone without any apparent witnesses, according to Verducci. Angell reported the threat to Coventry Police after hearing about it from Verducci as the two discussed the heated tempers about the invoice issue, he said April 8, a detail repeated in the report.

In the report, CPD Lt. Graham MacCoy writes that Copley’s attorney, Timothy Williamson, spoke to him via phone April 1 when he asked to speak with Copley about the alleged threat. In that conversation, MacCoy wrote, Williamson said Copley denied threatening Lima, and said he had commented, “During the phone call conversation that the town was getting “skull fucked” due to what was happening politically in the Town and with Mr. Angell.”

Williamson also denied MacCoy’s request to interview Copley at the station, offering to email Copley’s statement on his conversation with Verducci, according to the report.

Coventry Police issued a no -trespass order against Copley forbidding him from visiting Lima’s home, on Lima’s insistence, On April 1.

On April 3, Williamson emailed MacCoy, writing,

Lt. MacCoy:

Please see Mr. Copley’s statement with the attached exhibit.

Also, pursuant to our conversation yesterday, I would appreciate it if the CPD would not honor the request of Council President Lima a about the No Trespass Warning. It would appear that Town Solicitor Angel’s presentation to the police department was dependent on triple hearsay: Verducci, Lima and Angell. As such,  there would not appear to be any probable cause/ reasonable suspicion for said warning to be given. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.”

Timothy A. Williamson Esq.”

MacCoy also included Copley’s written statement about the reported threat, dated April 2:

“On March 21, 2025, I had a private telephone conversation with John Paul Verducci. We are both elected officials serving on the Coventry Town Council. Mr. Verducci is the Town Council Vice President.

The entire conversation was about the current state of affairs within our local government: about the Town Council President’s actions, conduct, and behavior as an elected official that some of us believe are in violation  of law. The conversation also dealt with our Town Solicitor’s actions, conduct, and behavior. Furthermore, most of the conversation was regarding my request to have certain matters placed on the Council’s agenda for the March 25, 2025, Town Council Meeting. (PLEASE SE THE ATTACHED EXHIBIT 1)

At the previous March 11.2025 Coventry Town Council meeting, tempers flared in public, wherein there were a significant number of differences of opinion related to the Town Council President and Town Solicitor Stephen Angell’s arrangement regarding the review and approval of the Solicitor’s legal billing and other matters that are believed to be in violation of law.

My telephone conversation with the Town Council Vice President dealt with these Town Council issues and Town Council issues alone. At no time did I make any threats against anyone, specifically Hillary Lima. Most, if not all, of the conversation discussed the Town Council’s inability as a Town Council to review Atty. Angell’s un-redacted legal bills and other governmental matters.

Any other comments that were made were directly related to, and about, the Town Council; in that we were looking like fools and that there were violations of the RI Constitution, Rhode Island General Laws, Coventry Home Rule Charter, and Coventry’s Code of Ordinances.”

Copley Threat Investigation Notes Fear among Council Members

MacCoy’s report mentions that Verducci said he and other members of the Town Council have voiced concerns with each other regarding their fear of Copley’s behavior and outbursts and are afraid of what he may do.

Copley’s last public interaction with police was during the 2018 election, when West Greenwich Police arrested him for removing State Sen. Leo Raptakis’s (D -Dist.  33 – Coventry, West Greenwich) political signs from a lot he said he had been given exclusive access to while running against the longtime state senator.  Williamson represented Copley in that case as well, and the charges were later dropped, according to a Providence Journal report. Copley told the Journal he would seek to have the record of his arrest expunged due to his interest in out-of-state pistol permits. The state court system no longer shows any record of the arrest.

According to U.S. Courts, grand juries focus on preliminary criminal matters only and assesses evidence presented by a prosecutor to determine whether there is “probable cause” to believe an individual committed a crime and should be put on trial. If the grand jury determines there is enough evidence, an indictment will be issued against the individual. Grand juries typically have 16- 23 members, and their proceedings are private.

A copy of the Coventry Police report has been attached to this article. CPD-report-Copley-Threat-investigation-C