The mayor of Central Falls, R.I., resigned yesterday and has agreed to plead guilty to corruption charges of accepting gifts in exchange for a city contract, federal prosecutors said, MSNBC.com reported yesterday. Charles Moreau had been under investigation since 2009 when he said that he gave lucrative contracts to board up abandoned homes to a friend without anyone else bidding. Central Falls is one of the most financially troubled cities in the country. It did, however, take a big step toward exiting bankruptcy earlier this month when a judge signed off on a plan that balances the impoverished city's budget for the next five years by hiking taxes, cutting employees and pensions and revising labor contracts.
