Former Speaker Sal DiMasi was sentenced to eight years in prison today by federal Judge Mark Wolf following his bribery and corruption conviction. Prosecutors wanted a 12-year term and DiMasi was seeking a three-year sentence. Judge Wolf did say federal guidelines call for 19-24 years for these crimes. On Thursday, he practically begged the court for mercy by saying "I appear before you today a broken man.’’ He wanted the court to focus on his record as a legislator. Judge Wolf did say DiMasi's life was “a great American story" prior to his corruption scandal.
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Sunday was the 40th anniversary of the elimination of the Green Line's "A" trolley. [Boston Metro]
A fast-growing foreign weed has invaded Massachusetts, and you won't even want to hold less than an ounce of it. [Boston Herald]
A Berklee grad from Winchester won $350k on the "Don't Forget the Lyrics" TV game show. [Boston Globe]
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Results tagged “corruption”
Week three of the Sal DiMasi federal corruption trial rolls on with testimony of a former aide to Governor Deval Patrick and an associate of Joe Lally.
Two significant trials are underway in Massachusetts. Two versions of how Daniel Kerrigan died were presented on Monday in the opening arguments of Mark Kerrigan's manslaughter trial. DiMasi faces a federal corruption probe alleging he took payoffs to award contracts to Canada-based Cognos.
Former Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner was sentenced to three years in jail for his November conviction in a federal corruption probe. Turner accepted a $1,000 bribe and was found guilty of attempted extortion and making false statements to the FBI. [Boston Globe], [WCVB]
Independent counsel Paul Ware found "systemic abuse and corruption" in the Probation Department, according to a report ordered by the Supreme Judicial Court.
Chuck Turner took the witness stand in his corruption trial and testified he didn't even remember meeting witness Ronald Wilburn on August 3, 2007, much less taking a $1,000 bribe from him for a liquor license. Assistant U.S. Attorney John McNeil grilled Turner as he repeatedly denied any memory of meeting with Wilburn.
-- MBTA Transit Police have arrested the suspect in Tuesday's stabbing on a bus on Ruggles Street headed toward Tremont Street. [Universal Hub]
It's a time-honored tradition: when laws get tough, people scramble to avoid them. The latest instance of this phenomenon comes with Boston firefighters, who are hurrying to cash in their pensions before a new law goes into effect that would reduce the size of said pensions. Firefighters who were injured on the job while filling in for a (higher-paid) supervisor used to be able to get additional pension money when filing for disability, due to their temporarily elevated status. About 100 firefighters had filed for such benefits over the past six years, but the change in the law has prompted 29 former flame-battlers to try to get in on the hot action this week (perhaps before beginning their bodybuilding careers). The new law bases pension for disabled firefighters on the firefighters' own average salary, not that of supervisors.
Yes, it's true. Deborah DiMasi, the wife of ex-House Speaker Sal DiMasi, actually had a TV show that was canceled by NECN to avoid any conflict of interest as the network covers the ongoing criminal case against her husband. DiMasi was indicted on Tuesday on several corruption charges. Other people apparently knew about the show, which apparently began in May of 2008 and was called "Open Book Club". In June of 2008, the Globe raised the potential ethical ramifications of the show, cohosted by DiMasi and Christy Scott Cashman.
Dianne Wilkerson plead not guilty today to new charges of accepting bribes for playing a role in a development deal. Wilkerson resigned her state senate seat last fall after bribery chargers were made. Councilman Chuck Turner, also pleading not guilty to bribery charges, appeared in court with Wilkerson today.
Sal DiMasi's accountant, Richard Vitale, has been indicted on charges of campaign finance and lobbying violations, a result of cozying up to ticket brokers seeking deregulation. A Suffolk County jury indicted Vitale this afternoon. Martin Weinberg is representing Vitale and affirms no wrongdoing. Vitale received $60,000 from the Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers. There have also been allegations of payments to Vitale's company by Cognos, a software company that obtained a state contract in 2007.
If you can't keep track of the cast surrounding State Senator Dianne Wilkerson's arrest on federal bribery charges and subsequent decision to continue the sticker campaign to retain her seat, you are not alone. Bostonist's head has been swimming for days.
Despite pending federal charges, State Sentaor Dianne Wilkerson will continue her sticker campaign to retain her seat. The most infamous stuffed shirt in Boston is currently out on a $50,000 bond while awaiting a Federal corruption trial for allegedly accepting $23,500 in bribes.
Massachusetts state senator Dianne Wilkerson was released on a $50,000 bond today after being arrested on charges of extortion. No word on how much, if any, of that bond was paid in bra money. The Herald shows Wilkerson sipping water after her court appearance; apparently arrest can be just as nerve-wracking as (allegedly) accepting bribes. Wilkerson did not enter a plea at today's hearing, and has another court date in Worcester on November 17. Stay hydrated, Dianne.
The Globe prints the soon-to-be-notorious FBI Government Exhibit "D," an image of Dianne Wilkerson allegedly stuffing her bra with cash.
State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who has suffered a volley of ethics charges over the past year, was arrested this morning by FBI agents, numerous sources are now reporting. According to the Globe, Wilkerson faces charges that she accepted more than $23,000 in bribes from undercover agents during a series of meetings. In one ignoble instance, she was recorded stuffing $1,000 cash into her bra at fancy bistro No. 9 Park, authorities say. Wilkerson, an attorney, also faces disbarment for an unrelated perjury accusation. A State Senator of 15 years, Wilkerson lost August's Democratic primary for her seat to Sonia Chang-Diaz. Wilkerson was running a sticker campaign to defeat Chang-Diaz in the general election.
Police commissioner Ed Davis has a lot to handle now that an internal audit shows drug evidence has either gone missing or has been tampered with in almost 1,000 cases.
--Police Commissioner Edward Davis has reacted to the information that corruption in the Boston Police Department might have extended beyond former officer Roberto Pulido and his sketchy crew. He even put a video on YouTube declaring that he will investigate the allegations. He said, "I will continue to press for the strictest sanctions against police corruption so that the excellent police work that I see every day from our officers will not be tarnished."...
Papercut Zine Library 45 Mt. Auburn St. Cambridge, MA http://www.papercutzinelibrary.org Sunday, October 28, 2007 See schedule below In addition to the many movie marathons to keep you from watching Rocky Horror 5 times on VH1 and eating all of your Halloween candy before Wednesday, the Papercut Zine Library is having a movie marathon from 10am until midnight for a measely $5. These films are unavailable in the US on DVD or VHS. Not only...
Mid-season TV isn't all that exciting, but "The Winner" looked interesting because it starred Rob Corddry, who was tremendously successful as one of the most out-there correspondents on the Daily Show. (To relive the memories, see his piece on Boston, featuring the line, "Did you know Boston has a merit badge in corruption? It's called the Big Dig!") When he announced that he'd be leaving the Daily Show, it was natural to assume he could...
Can you have a proper blotter if you can't report a crime? Yesterday afternoon, residents of East Boston lost 911 service briefly thanks to what the BPD described as "Verizon technical issues." In this world of iPhones and camera phones and phones that could butter your bread, not being able to call 911 because of "technical issues" is unacceptable. If you ever have 911 issues, the BPD website says you can call a BPD operator...
Normally, politicians like their constituents good and drugged out from the sweet opiate that is television. However, the Boston City Council wants to pry the remote from some residents' grubby hands by banning them from attaching satellite dishes to the fronts of buildings. City Council President Michael Flaherty calls the sight of dishes on buildings an "eyesore," but satellite services are often the only option for those who are either sick of Comcast or Comcast's...
Surely you're familiar with the question "Who are the top five people you'd invite to a dinner party?" And Jesus and Mark Twain invariably end up on the list.
Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up. -Chicagoist had fall on their mind as they made squash and fudge, read "House of Leaves" and ">tried to figure out what's next for the Cubs. Not fall related, but still of utmost concern, the whole skinny black pants thing. -Torontoist fought off an evil scourge of raccoons and went to go see who...
Bostonist has a lot in the past about gay marriage, and we thought we were done beating that particular dead horse. Unfortunately, with things going badly in Iraq and corruption taking center stage in Washington, the President has gone and revived the issue, once again holding up Massachusetts as the activist-judge inhabited Gomorrah that Bostonist always dreamed of inhabiting.
DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi's tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. LAist documented graf artist Banksy's most recent visit to LA in one two three posts. They also found the best possible use...
This year attendance numbers were drastically down in movie theaters. That was the mantra being blasted at anyone who'd listen. When asked what was causing this, industry experts presented cases such as movie piracy, home movie theaters gaining in popularity, and if pressed enough, the waning quality of movies in general. If you looked hard enough or sampled enough of the releases, however, you would have seen a good number of entertaining and challenging films....
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