with the banking crisis after he set off the chain of events with his theft of between $12 million and $15.2 million from Heritage Loan & Investment. The "state's most wanted fugitive" according to WJAR-TV, law enforcement looked for him for nearly a year and a half without success. There were rumors his alleged Mafia connections led him to Italy, but it was later revealed he had been hiding in Salt Lake City, Utah, chosen only because he had traveled there in the past. He took the name of an acquaintance who died just before he fled, John Fazzioli, and according to the Providence Journal "lived under the persona of a Boston jewelry manufacturer who had come to Utah to ski and relax." In 1992, Mollicone's wife and four children in Rhode Island had their home foreclosed and had to file for bankruptcy. At that point, in April 1992, after nearly 18 months in hiding, he turned himself in. He had met and lived with a girlfriend in Utah who did not know his real identity. In what the state prosecutor found to be a salient demonstration of character, he also left her in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy when he returned to Rhode Island. Trial Rhode Island attorney general Jeff Pine took office in January 1993, just a few months before the trial, inheriting the case from his predecessor. He appointed Kevin Bristow as new lead prosecutor and the trial began in March 1993, after a 60-day continuance. Mollicone admitted to and apologized for his crimes, and his lawyer characterized him as "a sucker." The Superior Court Judge, Dominic Cresto, responded by saying that Mollicone had "considerable talents and persuasive manipulative abilities through the use of charm and guile," and said he had "a conscious, systematic scheme of plundering bank assets entrusted to him." Witnesses for the prosecution included the former vice president of Heritage Loan & Investment, someone with knowledge of Mollicone's purchase of a Ferrari, Mollicone's girlfriend in Salt Lake City, and another friend from Utah. Although they did not know his true identity, his Utah-based connections testified about his life and lifestyle while on the run. The prosecution also had surveillance footage from the bank. On April 23, 1993, he was convicted on 26 counts, including embezzlement, bank fraud, and conspiring to create false bank documents. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison