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Grisly details emerge at hearing for Mattapan massacre suspect

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Grisly details emerge at hearing for Mattapan massacre suspect
By Ira Kantor  |   Wednesday, January 19, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
Photo by Ted Fitzgerald

One of the three Mattapan massacre defendants cold-bloodedly stripped the victims and robbed them at gunpoint — then drove away before the four were gunned down in the street, prosecutors said yesterday in their most detailed account yet of the mass murder.

Kimani Washington, 35, of Dorchester was ordered held on $500,000 bail after pleading not guilty to charges including home invasion, armed robbery and armed carjacking, said Suffolk DA spokesman Jake Wark.

Two other defendants, Washington’s cousin Edward Washington, 31, of Dorchester and Dwayne Moore, 33, of Mattapan, are charged with the first-degree murders of Eyanna Flonory and Simba Martin, both 21, of Dorchester, Flonory’s 2-year-old son, Amani Smith, and LeVaughn Washum-Garrison, 22, of Roslindale. Marcus Hurd, 32, of Dorchester was also shot and paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Prosecutors allege the three suspects set out to Martin’s Sutton Street apartment on Sept. 28 to rob him of cash and drugs. After Martin got into an SUV driven by Hurd, Washington, “armed with a gun,” approached them and “ordered them to take their clothes off,” said Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin.

The suspects then led both victims into Martin’s home — where they found Flonory, Smith and Washum-Garrison — and stole a safe, cocaine and a TV, loading them in the SUV, Zabin said. Kimani Washington then drove it away, Zabin said.

“The plan was to meet up later for the purpose of dividing up the proceeds,” Zabin said.

After Kimani Washington left, the four victims were executed.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1310474
READ MORE - Grisly details emerge at hearing for Mattapan massacre suspect

Ex-mayoral aide John Forbes walks Probation in drug case

Ex-mayoral aide John Forbes walks
Probation in drug case
RELEASED: John Forbes, Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s former East Boston neighborhood coordinator, leaves federal court yesterday after being given five years’ probation on drug charges.
By Richard Weir  |   Wednesday, January 19, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics
Photo by Nancy Lane

An ex-aide to Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday walked out of federal court in Boston a free man, spared a lengthy prison sentence for peddling painkillers and cocaine after swaying a judge that he has turned his life around and plans to help other addicts do the same.

“For 10 years, I was under the power of addiction,” John M. Forbes, who faced up to 20 years behind bars, told Judge Richard G. Stearns at his U.S. District Court sentencing. “I used to say to my wife, ‘When will this end?’ . . . I had been living this double life for 10 years.”

It ended Dec. 16, 2009, when authorities busted Forbes, 31, the former East Boston liaison for City Hall and a rising star in Menino’s cadre of community coordinators, for selling 125 OxyContin pills in his Eastie home and attempting to sell 10 ounces of cocaine in a separate undercover buy.

The judge sentenced Forbes to five years’ probation and 1,800 hours of community service.

“From the very beginning, I took it as my second chance. ... This was the best thing that ever happened in my life,” Forbes said of getting arrested and later being sent to rehab where, according to his counselors, he became sober and a leader to others struggling with addiction.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey M. Cohen asked Stearns to send Forbes to prison for 51 months, the same sentence that his co-defendant, Lawrence R. Taylor, 61, of Swampscott, received.

Cohen argued that Forbes violated the public’s trust by pushing OxyContin in his own neighborhood — brazenly selling it from his kitchen, in front of his two kids — and then refused to cooperate with authorities.

“This drug is a plague to East Boston,” Cohen said. “His role was to represent City Hall in East Boston, and on the side he was moonlighting as a drug dealer.”

But Forbes’s attorney Rosemary Scapicchio argued for probation, saying her client “can be a source of hope for others” after becoming clean and an inspiration at Stepping Stone, the Fall River clinic where he spent 128 days in drug treatment last year.

“Mr. Forbes is a success story . . . (that) you can beat this addiction,” Scapiccicho said, adding that he wants to open a substance abuse program in East Boston. “He walked in taking five OxyContin pills a day and he walked out . . .not just a stronger person, but a leader willing to help people.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1310499
READ MORE - Ex-mayoral aide John Forbes walks Probation in drug case

District 7 City Council Candidates Forum Thurs. 1/20/11

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

READ MORE - District 7 City Council Candidates Forum Thurs. 1/20/11

Pols: Spare drug-addled former mayoral worker

Pols: Spare drug-addled former mayoral worker

By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Tuesday, January 18, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Ex-Senate president Robert Travaglini and City Councilor Sal LaMattina are among dozens of compassionate supporters asking a federal judge to spare the rod on an erstwhile rising star in Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s camp, whose addiction to painkillers poisoned his political career.

While serving as Menino’s East Boston neighborhood coordinator, John Forbes was moonlighting as a drug dealer and popping five oxycodone pills a day “just to function,” court documents filed Friday by his attorney reveal.

“John Forbes is a classic example of a fine young man who exercised poor judgment,” Travaglini wrote in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns, who could sentence Forbes, 31, to up to 20 years behind bars this afternoon.

Forbes, Travaglini’s mercy-seeking missive continued, “has for the better part of his life always done the right thing — helping, coaching and teaching young children how to become respected members of the community driven by what is good in life.” He urged Stearns “to be as lenient as the law would allow.”

LaMattina, who has known Forbes since he was born, told Sterns in his letter that Forbes “loved the neighborhood” of East Boston “and the people loved him back.” He noted Forbes had “a connection to the mayor’s office that made people feel better about their city government.”

Forbes pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to distribute Oxycontin and cocaine. Attorney Rosemary Curran Scapicchio is asking that the father of two be placed only on probation.

Leah Forbes, Forbes’ wife of six years and mother of his two toddler daughters, told the court she defeated her own demons after her husband’s embarrassing 2009 bust, writing: “Johnny and I have been struggling with drug addiction off and on since before we were married. It was a terrible secret that we had kept from our family and friends. If I have learned anything ... it is that second chances are not to be taken lightly.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1310242
READ MORE - Pols: Spare drug-addled former mayoral worker

Cornell Mills Campaign Kick Off and Official Announcement

Monday, January 17, 2011

BLACKSTONIAN EXCLUSIVE:


Cornell Mills Campaign Kick Off and Official Announcement

On Sunday, January 16th, one day after the Birthday of Dr. King and one day before the National Holiday in his honor, Cornell Mills held a gathering at his home that served as the official announcement of his campaign for District 7 City Council.

The event was well attended drawing approximately 75 people to the Mills Family's Roxbury Home.  Mills layed out his pitch, describing his family life as a husband, father, brother and son as well as his upbringing dedicated to community service and the many situations along the way which have shaped and prepared him for this campaign.  There was a heavy focus on experience during the presentation, detailing Mills positions as a Business Owner, Home Owner, Foreclosure Prevention specialist, former Homicide Investigator for the DA's office as well as his over 15 years of political experience having worked on numerous campaigns.

Cornell was introduced by his wife Stephanie Soriano-Mills, herself an accomplished Attorney, flanked by several of their children who were well behaved and engaged throughout, helping to collect sign in sheets and pass out literature.  After Cornell spoke, we heard introductions of various team members and then we heard from Mills' Mother, Senator Dianne Wilkerson.  Senator Wilkerson offered some perspective on what is at stake and what will be required to achieve this goal.  We also heard brief remarks from newly elected State Rep. Carlos Henriquez who recalled his former bids for election in District 7.  The event opened with prayer from Minister Pam and closed with prayer (and an impromptu pep rally) from Rev. Chris Womack.

Everyone in attendance had a good time, got better informed about Mills' Campaign, heard some rousing words and received their marching orders. These next weeks until the Feb. 15th Primary Election will be the true test as all campaigns will have their teams in the field criss-crossing the district.


Editor's Note:
The crowd promptly dispersed as many in attendance were anxious to get home to see the much anticipated Patriots game versus the NY Jets. In hindsight I bet people would have stuck around to chit chat more if they knew in advance the outcome of the game. But then again if you knew the outcomes of games in advance you would probably have bigger fish to fry. ;)
READ MORE - Cornell Mills Campaign Kick Off and Official Announcement

Oldest living African-American dies at 113

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Oldest living African-American dies at 113
Mississippi Winn poses for a photo for archival purposes by Robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group Monday July 19, 2010 in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Caddo Parish Coroner's Office confirms that Mississippi Winn died Friday afternoon Jan. 14, 2011 at age 113 at a nursing home in Shreveport. Winn is believed to have been the oldest living African-American in the U.S. and the seventh oldest living person. Young says Winn was one of two known people in the U.S. whose parents were almost certainly born into slavery because documents show they were born before the end of the Civil War, though her great-niece Mary C. Hollins says Winn never acknowledged that. (AP Photo/Robert Young) (Robert Young - AP)

The Associated Press
Saturday, January 15, 2011; 2:00 AM

SHREVEPORT, La. -- When she turned 113, Mississippi Winn could still stand up on her own and never thought her age was a detriment to her life.

The upbeat former domestic worker from Shreveport, known in the city as "Sweetie," died Friday afternoon at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home, said Milton Carroll, an investigator with the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office. He said he could not release her cause of death.

Winn was believed to be the oldest living African-American in the U.S. and the seventh-oldest living person in the world, said Robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group, which verifies information for Guinness World Records.

Young said Winn was one of two known people left in the United States whose parents both were almost certainly born into slavery because documents show they were born before the end of the Civil War, though her great-niece Mary C. Hollins says Winn never acknowledged that.

"I don't know much about that," Hollins recalled Winn saying when asked about her parents' early years.

Young visited Winn in July 2010 and remembered her being much more fit than others her age.

"When I asked her how old she was, she knew she was 113 but she thought she was young," he said. "She always thought there would be a next year. Unfortunately that didn't happen. That was just the thing - she had a very positive attitude."

With Winn's death, Young's Los Angeles-based gerontology group has verified Mamie Rearden, 112, of Edgefield, S.C., as the current oldest known living African-American in the U.S. He said Eunice Sanborn, 114, of Jacksonville, Texas, is the world's oldest known living person.

Hollins said Friday evening that Winn was in good health and mentally sharp until recently.

She described her great-aunt as "a strong-willed person, a disciplinarian" who believed that elders should be respected.

"She was living on her own until she was 103," Hollins said, cooking for herself and taking walks. "She just believed she could handle anything."

Winn, who never married, was a caretaker of children and a cook. She lived nearly her entire life in Louisiana, though she resided in Seattle, Wash. from 1957 to 1975, Hollins said. She had been a member of Shreveport's Avenue Baptist Church since 1927 and used to say, "I am gonna stay here as long as he wants me to stay here."

"One of the reasons for her longevity was that she just kind of took things as they'd come, everyday life and living. She didn't let nothing upset her and get all hyped up by some of the things as we do," Hollins said.

Carroll said Winn was well-known in Shreveport. Last spring, the mayor declared "Miss Mississippi Winn Day" on March 31 when she turned 113.

"She was just a vibrant lady," he said. "Once you came in contact with her, you were impacted."

According to a biography released by the city, Winn was one of eight children, including a sister who died in 2000 at age 100.

"Her father named her Mississippi but her mother always called her Sweetie," the bio said. "Her favorite hobby is sewing and favorite book is the Bible."

Her favorite quote from the Bible: "Be ye kind one to another."


With the passing of Winn, 112-year-old Mamie Rearden of Edgefield, South Carolina, is now considered to be the oldest living African-American. Eunice Sanborn of Jacksonville, Texas, is considered as the oldest living person in the world at the age of 114.
READ MORE - Oldest living African-American dies at 113

Deval Patrick: Honor ‘Dr. King’s example’

Deval Patrick: Honor ‘Dr. King’s example’

By Natalie Sherman  |   Sunday, January 16, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
LENDING A HAND: Celtics star Ray Allen, left, and Gov. Deval Patrick, right, pack food for kids in need at Greater Boston Food Bank yesterday as part of Project 351.
Photo by Faith Ninivaggi

Gov. Deval Patrick stole a play from his presidential pal yesterday, declaring Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a day of service for the state.

The Patrick-Murray Inaugural Committee sent local sports heroes and students from 351 Massachusetts cities and towns to six volunteer sites in Boston yesterday. At the Greater Boston Food Bank, volunteers stuffed 4,000 backpacks with food for kids.

“Project 351 is designed to inspire, challenge, and motivate our next generation of learners and leaders to give back,” Patrick said in a statement. “As we serve together, we join thousands of citizens across the nation honoring Dr. King’s example.”

In 2009, the day before his inauguration, President Obama called for a national day of service to fall on the holiday named for the slain civil rights leader.

King was born Jan. 15, 1929. The federal holiday will be celebrated tomorrow.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1309828
READ MORE - Deval Patrick: Honor ‘Dr. King’s example’

Brockton man killed in double shooting Mansfield neighbors shocked by violence

Brockton man killed in double shooting
Mansfield neighbors shocked by violence

GRIEF-STRICKEN: Chimora Miranda, 21, with 8-month-old daughter Alayna Alima Cardoso, mourns her boyfriend’s death yesterday. Aderito Cardoso died Saturday morning after being shot.
By Herald staff  |   Sunday, January 16, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
Photo by Faith Ninivaggi

Tears flowed through a Brockton home last night as dozens of people gathered to remember a 22-year-old dad gunned down only hours earlier inside a Mansfield apartment building.

“They took my baby away,” said Chimora Miranda, 21, who has an 8-month-old daughter with murder victim Aderito Cardoso. “They took my best friend.”

Family, friends and people from Brockton’s Cape Verdean community flooded Cardoso’s Winthrop Street home and openly grieved.

Authorities said Cardoso, a 2007 Brockton High School graduate, was shot inside the first-floor hallway of an apartment building at the Villages of Mansfield Depot about 3:42 a.m. yesterday. He was taken by helicopter to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Another man, only identified as in his 20s, was also shot but has survived with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. No arrests have been made.

Miranda of Taunton said she last heard from Cardoso Friday night when he told her he was going with a friend to Karma nightclub in Providence.

“He kissed my baby good night, but I didn’t know he’d see her for the last time,” she said.

Miranda said Cardoso’s friend picked up a woman at the nightclub, and the woman invited them back to her Mansfield home to hang out. Police have not told the family what transpired next, she said.

Josephine DeRosa has lived next door to apartment No. 2904 — the apartment where the woman from the club allegedly lived — for 16 years. She was not home at the time of the shooting, which occurred about 15 feet outside her door, but she said her son heard people fighting and then several loud bangs.

“I’m very upset,” DeRosa said. “I’m glad I wasn’t there. I would have freaked out.”

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office and local police have described the incident as isolated and not a random act, but did not return calls for comment.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1309832
READ MORE - Brockton man killed in double shooting Mansfield neighbors shocked by violence

Dorchester neighbors join up to see results

Dorchester neighbors join up to see results

BANDING TOGETHER: From left, Margaret Gooden, Marguerite Springer, Trena Ambroise and Cassie Avery-Grice, members of the Dorchester crime watch team Redefining Our Community, patrol the streets.
By Jessica Fargen  |   Sunday, January 16, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
Photo by Mark Garfinkel

More than 100 crime watches have formed in Boston in the past two years. An inside look at one Dorchester group shows just how much a neighborhood can accomplish.

Trena Ambroise started Redefining Our Community, or ROC, in the summer of 2009. It has grown to become much more than a crime watch, and has renewed the neighborhood’s spirit. Here’s what its members have done:

• Ambroise and neighbors collected petition signatures to make Hopkins Street a one-way. They lobbied for four new stop signs at Corbet and Evans streets, and “slow” signs. “They would fly down this street,” she said of drivers.

• Maggie Drovineaud, 47, who lives on Crowell Street, got a party house next door shut down, thanks to the crime watch.

Drovineaud had met Ambroise at a crime watch meeting and told her about the all-night parties on her street. She’d repeatedly called the police, but the partiers would always come back after police left.

Ambroise gave Drovineaud her cell phone number and told her to call anytime. She did just that a short time later and, thanks to Ambroise’s help, police raided the house the next day. That was two months ago and it’s been quiet since. “It was an accident waiting to happen,” she said.

A recent homicide on her street has only intensified her resolve. “We’re going to organize a little more now,” she said.

• Cassie Avery-Grice, who lives on Nelson Street, went to a crime watch meeting in September, where she told a mayor’s staffer about graffiti on a sidewalk by her house that had been there since 2008. It was promptly removed. “You can’t say, ‘I can’t get anything done,’ ” she said. “If we band together, we can make things happen.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1309803
READ MORE - Dorchester neighbors join up to see results

Crime watches dig deep to clean up Hub streets Groups soar as they go high tech

Crime watches dig deep to clean up Hub streets
Groups soar as they go high tech

ALL EYES: Wes Williams of Wilmore Street uses a webcam as part of the crime watch to monitor activities and report criminal actions to police.
By Jessica Fargen  |   Sunday, January 16, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
Photo by Patrick Whittemore

Armed with webcams, cell phones and a renewed neighborhood spirit, vigilant Boston residents fed up with crime are starting neighborhood watches at a surging rate and taking back their streets at the same time.

Hub residents started 56 crime watches last year at a rate of about one every week — a nearly 25 percent increase over 2009, according to Boston police.

“We basically took back the street,” Wes Williams said of Wilmore Street in Mattapan, where six neighbors used their own money to buy wireless, mobile cameras to catch wrongdoing.

Wilmore Street was once a cut-through for warring gangs — but not anymore, said Williams, a teacher and father of nine. The street is also better lit, and neighbors are coming out of their houses more often.

“The crime went away,” said Sgt. Tim Torigian, the community service officer at the B-3 police station who works closely with Williams and other crime watches. “I’d like to have one on every street if I could.”

The increase in crime watches has come as major crimes in Boston — with the exception of homicides — have dropped. Homicides increased from 49 in 2009 to 74 last year, but robberies, rapes, larcenies and car thefts are down.

Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said increasing the number of crime watches is part of a strategy to open the doors of the department and engage residents.

“I think it really is important that people take control of public safety and take control into their own hands. That’s what you are seeing happen in Boston,” he said. “We’ve had four years of substantial reductions of crime that’s due in large part to the community stepping up and working closely with the police.”

In the blighted Hendry Street neighborhood in Dorchester, stay-at-home mom Shirley Montanez, 31, started a crime watch in September — too many drugs, too much prostitution, she said. Two months ago, there was a shooting.

“We have more of an eye of what’s going on instead of being closed off,” she said.

The result? More police cars on the street.

For Trena Ambroise, the catalyst was the murder of 13-year-old Steve Odom, the son of two preachers who was gunned down on Evans Street, steps from his house in 2007.

“An innocent child was murdered. That was on everybody’s hearts and minds. We said, ‘We’ve got to do something,’ ” said Ambroise, who started Redefining Our Community in June 2009, a crime watch encompassing a dozen streets.

Nights are quieter with fewer party houses. Hopkins Street is now a one-way, and Evans and Corbet streets have stop signs, making it safer for kids. Residents said crime is down.

“Our number one goal is for us to know our neighbors and to look out for each other, to make this neighborhood a closer community,” said Ambroise, who lives on Corbet Street. “We share information. We all are on the lookout for one another.”

Crime watches are community builders as much as crime deterrents. The hallmarks are summer block parties or cookouts and monthly meetings with police. Neighbors leave porch lights on at night. They exchange cell phone numbers and call each other or police when something doesn’t look right on their street.

“The message is, we are preventing,” said Valarie Seabrook, who recently started a crime watch in the East Fens, where there have been a number of muggings and attempted break-ins. “We are not going to let things deteriorate in front of our eyes. We are going to nip this in the bud.”

Carolyn MacNeil, the tireless head of the two-person BPD crime watch unit, has a list of more than 800 crime watches. A passionate advocate for neighborhoods, she’s hoping for even more crime watches this year. Just last week, BPD and community leaders held the first crime watch meeting for the Woolson Street neighborhood, where four people, including a 2-year-old boy, were killed in September.

“It’s really important for the neighbors to get connected,” MacNeil said. “It tunes people into the finer things in a neighborhood, the comings and goings of people. No one knows your street like you know your street.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1309852
READ MORE - Crime watches dig deep to clean up Hub streets Groups soar as they go high tech

Maine Gov. to critics of MLK no-shows: 'Kiss my butt'

Friday, January 14, 2011

Gov. to critics of MLK no-shows: 'Kiss my butt'

By Clarke Canfield
Associated Press / January 14, 2011

PORTLAND, Maine—Maine's governor told critics Friday to "kiss my butt" over his decision not to attend the state NAACP's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations over the holiday weekend.

Gov. Paul LePage declined the organization's invitations to a dinner in Portland on Sunday night and a breakfast in Orono on Monday because of prior commitments.

The NAACP's state director said the group felt it was being neglected by the new governor, who was elected in November. The head of a Portland immigration group said it appeared the governor's decision was part of a pattern.

When asked by a reporter Friday to respond, LePage said: "Tell them to kiss my butt."

FULL STORY HERE
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2011/01/14/gov_to_critics_of_mlk_no_shows_kiss_my_butt/?p1=Local_Links
READ MORE - Maine Gov. to critics of MLK no-shows: 'Kiss my butt'

Despite 6 OUIs, including one fatal, man wants license back

Despite 6 OUIs, including one fatal, man wants license back

Algary Horton.
By Herald staff reports  |   Friday, January 14, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

A man with six drunken-driving convictions — including one in which he left a Dorchester woman to die in front of her children — is asking for his license back, sparking outrage from law enforcement.

“The streets and highways of Massachusetts would be more dangerous with this man behind the wheel,” said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley. “He should never drive again, period.”

Algary Horton, 53, of Mattapan, was convicted of operating under the influence in 1979, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1998 and 2004, authorities said.

In the 1993 case, Horton was convicted of vehicular homicide and OUI when his vehicle veered off Park Street in Dorchester, plowing into Ann Kelly, 38. The mother died after she was sent flying into the air while her children and friends looked on in horror. Horton fled the scene, according to the district attorney’s office.

Yesterday, Horton appealed for an independent review board to lift his lifetime license revocation.

Ann Dufresne, spokeswoman for the Registry of Motor Vehicles, said the agency is not in favor of giving Horton his license back.

However, she said Horton is allowed to appeal to a three-member independent review board.

Horton could not be reached for comment.

Despite being sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for Kelly’s death, Horton was back behind the wheel and driving without a valid license in 1998, 2003 and 2004, authorities said.

He also has three pending assault cases in Dorchester District Court, court officials confirmed.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1309417
READ MORE - Despite 6 OUIs, including one fatal, man wants license back

Rep. Tierney’s wife sentenced to prison

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Rep. Tierney’s wife sentenced to prison
By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Thursday, January 13, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
Patrice Tierney leaves Federal Court with her husband, Democratic US Representative John F. Tierney, after a federal judge sentenced her to 30 days in jail for aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns.
Photo by Nancy Lane

In a shocking turn of events, a federal judge this afternoon sentenced the wife of U.S. Rep. John Tierney to 30 days in prison followed by five months of house arrest for “aiding and abetting” the filing of a false tax return by her brother, a fugitive from justice.

Prosecutors did not request jail time for Patrice Tierney, asking for 90 days house arrest, but U.S. District Court Judge William Young did give her prison time.

Patrice Tierney’s brother, Robert Eremian, is on the run from federal charges he was operating an illegal Internet gambling operation in Antigua.

She did not make a statement in court and she must report Feb. 28 to begin serving her sentence. It is not clear where she will be locked up.

John Tierney, a Democrat who has represented the 6th Congressional District since 1997, has said his wife was betrayed by her brother and believed his income came from selling or licensing software to legal Internet gambling businesses.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1309273
READ MORE - Rep. Tierney’s wife sentenced to prison

Five members of parole board resign in wake of cop killing

Five members of parole board resign in wake of cop killing
By Hillary Chabot  |   Thursday, January 13, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics
Five members of the state parole board, including chairman Mark Conrad, above, resigned today in a massive shakeup of the agency following the 2008 release of Dominic Cinelli who police say gunned down Woburn officer John ‘Jack’ Maguire.
Photo by Matt Stone

Gov. Deval Patrick outlined today a massive Parole Board upheaval — including five resignations and three suspensions — following the release of a career criminal who police said gunned down a veteran Woburn cop the day after Christmas.

The governor said the shakeup is meant to regain the public’s trust.

“The public had lost confidence in parole and I had lost confidence in parole,” said Patrick, who faced outcry following the Dec. 26 slaying of Woburn police officer John “Jack” Maguire. “As I said to Mrs. Maguire when we spoke on the phone just a moment ago, none of this is going to bring Jack back ... but what we have done and what we must do is all we can to regain the public’s confidence in a part of the criminal justice system which is vital to a successful criminal justice program.”

The five Parole Board members who voted to release repeat violent offender Dominic Cinelli in 2008 — including Patrick’s former campaign volunteer and pick for Parole Board Chairman Mark Conrad — handed in their resignations last night.

No violent or high-risk offenders will be released until the full Parole Board is rehired, Patrick said.

Donald Giancioppo, the former Parole Board executive director, also resigned following the results of an investigation into Cinelli’s release by the Executive Office of Public Safety.

He also moved to fire three other employees who were charged with overseeing Cinelli’s release. They are currently on suspension pending termination proceedings, Patrick said.

Patrick — who had asked for the public’s patience during the review — said his harsh actions were necessary to restore the public’s trust in their own public safety.

The governor said he’d file legislation tomorrow that would slap offenders convicted of a third violent felony with the maximum sentence.

“I applaud the governor for the steps he took ... I think he did the right thing,” said state Rep. James Dwyer (D-Woburn). “I thought they should have resigned right away.”

“Ultimately, it is Cinelli and Cinelli alone who is responsible for the murder of officer Maguire,” Patrick added today.

Patrick also named Josh Wall, now the first assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, the board’s interim executive director. Wall is expected to be named chairman.

Patrick had ordered a review of the Parole Board following Maguire’s death, and the review detailed “several failings” before and after Cinelli was released, said Public Safety Undersecretary John Grossman.

Parole board employees failed to notify the Middlesex District Attorney or all of his victims before Cinelli’s 2008 hearing. They also didn’t conduct monthly interviews with Cinelli’s friends or family members in the months leading up to Cinelli’s Dec. 26 heist to ensure his parole was going smoothly.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1309288
READ MORE - Five members of parole board resign in wake of cop killing

BLACKSTONIAN RUMOR MILL: Tito Jackson confession: "I'm a Golden Girl Superfan"?!?

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

BLACKSTONIAN RUMOR MILL: Tito Jackson confession: "I'm a Golden Girl Superfan"?!?

The Blackstonian has learned that current Candidate for City Council, Tito Jackson has a very public guilty pleasure.

The Blackstonian came across Boston Phoenix writer David Bernstein's bombshell Facebook post...

David S. Bernstein
City Council candidate Tito Jackson launches candidate page -- lists "Golden Girls" as a favorite TV show, in obvious suck-up to elderly and gay voters.

which sparked the following comments...
  • Chris Matthews This young, straight, Golden Girls fan is offended. Be careful, Bernstein. You don't want to cross Betty White.
    16 hours ago ·  ·  2 people
  • Marie Marshall Shame on YOU Bernstein!!
    16 hours ago · 
  • Jessica Bernstein David, since when are the "Golden Girls" gay? (Not that there's anything wrong wtih that...)
    16 hours ago · 
  • DeeDee Edmondson RIP Rue McClanahan
    16 hours ago · 
  • Michael Magner Your talking that and you wright for the Boston Phoenix? Never assume you make an ass out of yourself.
    15 hours ago · 
  • David S. Bernstein Hey, am I taking grief for poking fun at Tito? 'Cuz I gotta have some fun in my job.
    15 hours ago · 
  • Jessica Bernstein Is this the Tito Jackson whose brother was Michael Jackson? Didn't know he was running for City Council. (I'm not really up on Boston politics, as you can tell.)
    15 hours ago · 
  • Michael Magner Yeah and Bubbles the chimp is going to be the campaign manager.
    15 hours ago · 
  • Jamarhl Crawford now that IS funny... faraone's wry sarcasm is rubbing off on you
    14 hours ago · 
  • Rose Arruda I thought that was Betty White in the background when I called over there...don't sleep on Tito.
    14 hours ago · 
  • Jamarhl Crawford as long as we dont discover he's having an affair with Bea Arthur... SCANDAL
    14 hours ago · 
  • David S. Bernstein Jamarhl: How do you know Faraone didn't get it from me?
    14 hours ago · 
  • Jamarhl Crawford haha a naive assumption on my part. duly noted. ;)
    13 hours ago · 
  • John 'Jack' Mitchell My 13 y/o daughter loves iCarly and Golden Girls. Tito is perceptive.
    13 hours ago · 
  • Tito Jackson David, I was down with Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia and Rose and St Olaf way before Betty White ever thought of being on SNL and in a Snickers commercial. I am an OGGF an Original Golden Girls Fan and I am unapologetic! :)
    2 hours ago · 
  • Tito Jackson 
    By the way David, the theme song should have won a Grammy *lol

    "Thank you for being a friend

    Traveled down the road and back again
    ...See More
    2 hours ago · 
  • David S. Bernstein Tito Jackson -- he's not one of the Jackson 5, he's the 5th Golden Girl! Who knew?
    about an hour ago · 
  • Tito Jackson The Perfect line up on a Saturday Night was 227, Amen and then the Golden Girls. I have many fond memories from that line up :)
    about an hour ago ·  ·  2 people
  • James W. Hills David, OMG...LOL... That's not right...LMBO...
    about an hour ago · 



The comments reveal stunning admissions and statements from Jackson
"David, I was down with Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia and Rose and St Olaf way before Betty White ever thought of being on SNL and in a Snickers commercial. I am an OGGF an Original Golden Girls Fan and I am unapologetic! :)"

"By the way David, the theme song should have won a Grammy *lol
"Thank you for being a friend
Traveled down the road and back again
Well, your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidante.
♫ And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew,
You would see the biggest gift would be from me
...And the card attached would say "Thank you for being a friend"

Ending in a post in which Bernstein retorts
"David S. Bernstein Tito Jackson -- he's not one of the Jackson 5, he's the 5th Golden Girl! Who knew?"
READ MORE - BLACKSTONIAN RUMOR MILL: Tito Jackson confession: "I'm a Golden Girl Superfan"?!?

 
 
 

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