Quincy developer pleads not guilty to rape, drug rap

Quincy developer pleads not guilty to rape, drug rap
By Laura Crimaldi and O’Ryan Johnson  |   Tuesday, May 10, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Matt Stone

An elderly Quincy developer posted $150,000 cash bail and sped away from the courthouse yesterday after he pleaded not guilty to sordid charges of raping a teenager and trafficking cocaine.

William O’Connell, 71, dodged reporters’ questions after he was led out of a back door of Quincy District Court.

He is charged with two counts of aggravated statutory rape, two counts of soliciting sex for a fee and one count of cocaine trafficking.

“The charges speak for themselves,” said Andrew DiCarlo Berman, the special prosecutor appointed by Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey. “They’re some of the most serious charges that I think can be lodged against a defendant, and it’s something that we take very seriously.”

The alleged offenses took place in the spring and summer of 2009 and on various dates until March, Berman said. The alleged victim is not a prostitute, the prosecutor said. He noted the aggravated statutory rape statute applies to victims who are 14 to 16 years old.

O’Connell’s spokesman, George Regan, issued a statement last night, but refused to answer questions.

“This is going to be resolved in a judicial process,” he said. “At first blush, this may not be what it appears to be.”

Following the hearing, a court officer escorted a handcuffed O’Connell into the clerk’s office to take care of administrative matters after Judge Mark Coven told the defense he was not going treat the developer differently than any other defendant.

“I’m going to treat him the same way we treat every other person,” Coven said.

Coven impounded a police report, and details of the accusations against O’Connell were not revealed during his arraignment. Berman said he requested the report be impounded to protect the alleged victim’s identity.

O’Connell and his brother, Peter, are major Quincy developers who started their business with $450 in 1958 and went on to build many of the city’s landmark developments. They’re perhaps best known for Marina Bay, a massive, upscale condo-and-retail complex whose residents over the years have ranged from New England Patriots [team stats] star Tom Brady [stats] to television newscaster Chet Curtis.

“They helped build Quincy,” said Peter Forman, president and CEO of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce.

Forman said the family is “very much part of the community. They’re very much liked and respected.”

Yesterday, O’Connell was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim and witnesses, surrender his passport, have no unsupervised contact with anyone younger than 16 and not leave the state without permission.

It’s not the first time O’Connell has faced a judge. In 2003, he was sentenced to six months probation on charges of negligent motor boat homicide after an accident resulted in the death of his best friend.

The current investigation is ongoing, Berman said.

Berman also is prosecuting O’Connell’s nephew, Robert, who is free on $500,000 bail on an attempted murder charge. He is accused of shooting Milton firefighter Joseph A. Fasano.

Jerry Kronenberg contributed to this report.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1336837

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SJC: Odor of marijuana not enough to order suspect out of car

SJC: Odor of marijuana not enough to order suspect out of car

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The odor of burnt marijuana is no longer enough for police officers to order a person from their car, now that possession of less than an ounce of marijuana has been decriminalized in Massachusetts, the state's highest court ruled today.

"Without at least some other additional fact to bolster a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the odor of burnt marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity to justify an exit order," the court ruled in a decision written by Chief Justice Roderick Ireland.

The court said the people's intent in passing the ballot question decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana was "clear: possession of one ounce or less of marijuana should not be considered a serious infraction worthy of criminal sanction."

FULL STORY HERE
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/04/sjc_odor_of_mar.html

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Drug smuggling charge against Mass. jail officer

Drug smuggling charge against Mass. jail officer

By Associated Press  |   Monday, April 18, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

BOSTON - A Massachusetts corrections officer has been arrested on allegations that he attempted to smuggle heroin to sell to inmates at a medium-security prison near Boston.

Ronald McGinn Jr. of Bridgewater was charged Monday with possession of heroin with intent to distribute at MCI-Norfolk.

U.S. District Attorney Carmen Ortiz says the 40-year-old sent text messages and discussed with an undercover FBI agent the amounts he would smuggle into the prison and fees he would charge to do so. He was arrested Monday afternoon in possession of 28 grams of heroin.

The investigation began after a Massachusetts Department of Corrections officer told the FBI that someone was smuggling contraband to the facility about 25 miles southwest of Boston.

It was not immediately clear if McGinn has legal representation. He faces up to 20 years in prison on conviction.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1331722

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Police seek second Mashpee shooting suspect

Police seek second Mashpee shooting suspect

The police are seeking John Cardoza of East Falmouth in connection with Thursday’s shooting in Mashpee.

Photo by Mashpee Police Department
By Heather Wysocki / Cape Cod Times  |   Wednesday, April 13, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage


MASHPEE — The police are looking for for a second suspect in Thursday’s shooting, which authorities believe was a botched robbery during a drug buy.

Carlton H. Hendricks III, 20, was arrested Monday in connection with the shooting. John Cardoza, 35, of East Falmouth is also being sought.

According to court documents, a 32-year-old man and his 28-year-old girlfriend were attempting to purchase Percocet pills around 10 p.m. Thursday at Hendricks’ 165 Ninigret Ave. home. But Hendricks and Cardoza allegedly pulled guns and pointed them at the two through the couple’s car windows while the couple was trying to pay for the drugs, the woman said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1330409

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Revere police officer charged with lying to FBI agents probing corruption

Revere police officer charged with lying to FBI agents probing corruption

The FBI said in court papers that these images show Revere police Officer Todd Randall collecting $200 in cash from a confidential informant.
Posted by John Ellement April 12, 2011 03:22 PM
By John M. Guilfoil and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A Revere police officer who was allegedly recorded on both video and audio as he collected a $200 cash bribe while on duty, in uniform, and in a marked police cruiser was arrested today on charges of lying to FBI agents.

Officer Todd Randall is due to appear in US District Court in Boston this afternoon following his arrest earlier today on one count of lying to federal agents, according to court records.

According to an FBI affidavit filed in court, Randall met with a person cooperating with the FBI in 2010 and agreed to help quash a pending criminal case in Chelsea District Court in return for a cash payment.

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Community recalls devastation of crack Event mourns losses of life and stolen futures

Community recalls devastation of crack
Event mourns losses of life and stolen futures

April 10, 2011|By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff

One man recalled selling it to his best friend’s father. A woman watched her husband fall further into its grips. A nurse recounted caring for babies born addicted to it.

Twenty-five years after crack cocaine swept across this city, destroying families and neighborhoods, Bostonians say they are still reeling from its deadly legacy. Yesterday more than 100 people came together at Hibernian Hall in Dudley Square to mourn the lives, the years, and the friends they lost.

“Crack cocaine came and infiltrated our community like [Hurricane] Katrina,’’ said Leonard Lee, a 52-year-old from Dorchester who works with drug and violence prevention issues for the city. “It got rid of all our moral values.’’

FULL STORY HERE
http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-10/news/29403983_1_powder-cocaine-crack-cocaine-families-against-mandatory-minimums

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Crack chipped away at Hub

Crack chipped away at Hub

By Marie Szaniszlo  |   Sunday, April 10, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
Photo by Faith Ninivaggi

Twenty-five years after crack cocaine surfaced in urban America, dozens of people gathered in Roxbury yesterday to talk about its lingering impact on Boston’s black community.

“In the beginning of the 1980s, we were feeling good about ourselves,” said George “Chip’’ Greenidge, founder of the National Black College Alliance and organizer of the symposium. “We had ‘The Cosby Show,’ affirmative action. And then something just came out of the sky and hit us.”

The “game-changer,” as Greenidge put it, came in a new, cheaper form of cocaine.

Fulani Haynes was a pediatric nurse who used to treat crack-addicted babies at the former Boston City Hospital. Screaming, shaking and sleepless, the infants were born showing withdrawal symptoms no amount of cuddling seemed to soothe, Haynes said. So nurses would give them small, decreasing amounts of pure opium in a hypodermic needle, wrap them tightly in blankets and lay them in their cribs in complete darkness to calm them for a few hours.

“The nurses became the mothers,” she said, “because the parents were busy getting high.”

Grandmothers spent their “golden years” caring for their grown children and their children’s children, and violence increased as word spread that dealing crack was a fast way to make money, said Boston Deputy Police Superintendent William Gross.

In the late 1980s, Congress brought back mandatory minimum drug sentences, treating crack offenses much more harshly than powder cocaine crimes, said Barbara Dougan of Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

“These laws were not passed out of concern for young, black men, but out of fear of young, black men,” Dougan said.

The result, she said, was an explosion in the prison population that has left one out of nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 in behind bars.

“Clearly, they’ll be coming back to our communities,” said Boston Police Superintendent Paul Joyce, “and we want to make sure they end up in a better situation than they began.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1329648

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Past haunts alleged drug-dealing driver Records reveal run-in with law

Past haunts alleged drug-dealing driver
Records reveal run-in with law

By Richard Weir  |   Saturday, April 9, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

The head of the MBTA is launching a “full investigation” into the background of an accused drug-dealing bus driver after court records revealed she was charged several years ago with impersonating a police officer, negligent driving and refusing to produce her license — all while she was employed by the T.

Cynthia D. King, 46, of Brockton was released on $1,000 bail yesterday after being arraigned on charges of possessing crack cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute after her arrest Thursday by Boston police. According to prosecutors, police launched their investigation after an informant tipped them off that she was “selling crack cocaine from an MBTA bus.”

“The general manager wants answers from any and all T departments that were involved,” said MBTA boss Richard Davey’s spokesman Joe Pesaturo. “He has directed the Human Resources Department to conduct a full investigation into the suspended employee’s record and work history.”

King’s prior legal woes began in 2007, when an off-duty Brockton cop repeatedly asked her to move her car after she parked it in a crosswalk near a detail, a police report states.

“She then told me she was a police officer in Boston and that I should know how to act in a uniform,” wrote Detective Michael Damiano, noting King refused to show her license or badge and “snickered” at him.

“It was a misunderstanding,” her lawyer, Michael Doolin, said yesterday of the case. She was acquitted in November 2008.

“The MBTA was not made aware of the 2007 allegations,” T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said.

But after learning from the Herald that Damiano had contacted MBTA police in 2007 to see if King was a cop with them, and even forwarded his report to sergeant in charge of internal employee security for the T, Pesaturo said Davey was launching a probe into King’s past.

Cops arrested King as she arrived for work Thursday and found a plastic bag full of cocaine and three others with crack cocaine, along with $2,636 cash, in her pants pockets, according to a police report.

“I needed the extra money,” she allegedly told the cops who arrested her. “I don’t make enough money.” King’s salary is $62,774.

The officers, the report said, also found in her 2001 Lexus two scales, a tinfoil packet with apparent heroin and a “special” Boston police badge, apparently from when she was a security guard 12 years ago.

Doolin said his client maintains her innocence. “Cynthia King is a real good member of the community,” he said. “She has a wonderful family that supports her very much and she has been a good employee of the T. She looks forward to defending herself in court.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1329436

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MBTA driver arrested on drug-dealing charges

MBTA driver arrested on drug-dealing charges

By Richard Weir  |   Friday, April 8, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

A Boston bus driver was behind bars last night for allegedly dealing drugs after cops searched her personal car yesterday and found crack cocaine, police said.

Cynthia King, 46, of Brockton, who has worked for the MBTA since October 2002, was charged with possession and intent to distribute a Class B substance, according to Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.

Drug control officers arrested King as she arrived for work at the Cabot bus yard in South Boston around 3:40 p.m. and conducted search warrants of her and her car, said Driscoll, noting that King was under prior surveillance.

“King was searched, and officers recovered crack cocaine and an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency,” she said.

The driver has been suspended, the MBTA said.

“The MBTA is very concerned about this,” T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said after King’s arrest.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1329221

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Bobby Brown says his high life’s over

Bobby Brown says his high life’s over

By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa with Megan Johnson  |   Thursday, April 7, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  The Inside Track

Photo by Sandra Rose/ Getty Images
Roxbury bad boy Bobby Brown was so horrified by his bizarro behavior on his reality show “Being Bobby Brown” that he quit doing drugs and turned his life around.

The former New Edition singer tells People magazine that he’s been sober for six years after overindulging in cocaine and heroin during his roller-coaster marriage to Whitney Houston.

“When I used to get high, I wasn’t there for my older kids. I always had a drink in my hand or disappeared,” said Brown, who was repeatedly hauled into Norfolk Family Court in Canton over the years for non-support of his two kids with Kim Ward of Stoughton.

Bobby says he’s now determined to make up for it with Cassius, his baby son with wife/manager Alicia Etheridge.

“My past has made me the man I am now. I had to grow. I got my passion back for music, for loving myself. I’m a better person, so I can be a better partner and father.”

The “My Prerogative” singer also addressed the controversy over Bobbi Kristina, his 18-year-old daughter with Houston. She was photographed allegedly snorting what looked like cocaine in the National Enquirer.

“She was hanging around some bad people and isn’t around them now,” he said. “I trust my baby.”

But a source close to Bobby said he was “devastated” by the situation.

“He and Whitney both love Bobbi, but she’s been living like an adult for years,” the source said. “She does what she wants.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1328930

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Brothers for Boston march to fight crime and violence

Brothers for Boston march to fight crime and violence

Marchers pause in front of the Quick Stop on Warren Street where Tahitia Milton was killed.

by: Richard Caesar, Baystate Banner

The Brothers for Boston marchers make their way down Blue Hill Avenue. (Richard Caesar photos)
There are still concerned men in our community who care about making a difference. This was the message Brothers for Boston aimed to send with their march through Roxbury last Saturday.

FULL STORY HERE
http://www.baystatebanner.com/local15-2011-04-07

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Victim's mother confronts defendant in Harvard dorm murder case

Victim's mother confronts defendant in Harvard dorm murder case

Justin Cosby
Posted by Martin Finucane March 24, 2011 01:38 PM
By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

WOBURN – For the first time since her only son was shot inside a Harvard University dorm, Denise Cosby today spoke directly to one of the men allegedly responsible for ending the life of her youngest child.

Denise Cosby was the mother of Justin D. Cosby, a Cambridge man who authorities have said was a drug dealer with customers on the Cambridge campus of the world-famous college.
“Today I sit here and look into the face of what is supposed to be a man,’’ Cosby said in a stern voice. “You are a fool.’’

Cosby directed her cold anger and sharp words towards Jason Aquino, one of three New York City men who came to Cambridge on May 18, 2009, intent on robbing Justin Cosby of marijuana and cash.

Instead, Cosby was shot while all four men were inside the J entry of Harvard’s Kirkland House residential building.

FULL STORY HERE
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/03/victims_mother.html?p1=Local_Links

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Hub legal peers ‘in shock’ over top attorney’s arrest

Hub legal peers ‘in shock’ over top attorney’s arrest
By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Thursday, March 24, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Matthew West

Boston’s legal A-listers, floored by yesterday’s arrest of high-profile attorney Robert A. George on federal charges of laundering $225,000 in drug money, were quick to speak out in his defense — and stunned by the idea that a glib, skilled and much-admired colleague could land where many of his notorious clients are: behind bars.

“He’s a really good lawyer and a real good guy,” said Jeffrey Denner, George’s former colleague. “We’re all in shock at these allegations.”

Attorney Thomas Drechsler called George “a fine lawyer. He’s entitled to his day in court. I hope everyone remembers that.”

Rosemary Scapicchio, who rushed to George’s side to represent him, called the unfolding drama “surreal” and “outrageous.”

George, 56 — whose clients have included former New England Mafia godfather Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme and Christopher McCowen, the Cape Cod trash collector convicted of the 2002 murder of Big Apple fashion scribe Christa Worthington — was arrested early yesterday morning at his $1.5 million manse in Westwood by Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Prosecutors claim they have George cold on tape, allegedly telling one witness he had an associate in Dover who assisted him “with cleaning money,” according to a DEA affidavit.

“Anyone of us, whether it’s attorneys or court personnel or the media, know that Bob is a real warrior,” said George’s longtime friend, attorney Kevin Reddington, who’ll fill out the defense team. “He’s maintaining his innocence 100 percent and looks forward to proving it in court.”

Handcuffed, in a casual blue jersey and jeans, George appeared briefly hours later in U.S. District Court, but did not enter a plea to the criminal complaint accusing him of being in cahoots since February 2009 with two unidentified informants — one of whom he previously defended against larceny charges.

Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings released George on a $50,000 unsecured bond. Bar Counsel Constance V. Vecchione said George does not face an interim suspension of his law license, but will be advised to obtain informed consent from clients that they’re aware of his criminal case.

Dave Wedge contributed to this report.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1325652

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Top Boston defense attorney charged with money laundering

Top Boston defense attorney charged with money laundering
By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Wednesday, March 23, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Matthew West

One of Boston’s best known defense attorneys, Robert A. George, has been charged with laundering more than $225,000 in drug money in a sting that used two informants and an undercover drug agent, U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz announced today.

George, 56, of Westwood, whose A-list criminal clients have included mobster Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme and Christopher McCowen, the Cape Cod trash collector convicted of murdering fashion writer Christa Worthington, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the scheme prosecutors allege began in 2009 and involved a federal informant paid a $2,500 finder’s fee for referring a client to him.

George was released after his arraignment today on a $50,000 unsecured bond but must surrender his passport and submit to a drug test, Magistrate Judge Robert Collings ordered today in U.S. District Court in Boston.

George, who rolled his eyes and appeared to mouth something to the press pack at the hearing, was arrested at his home this morning by DEA agents.

In a 13-page affidavit, prosecutors allege an undercover DEA agent and two “cooperating witnesses” set up deals with George to launder cash — $100,000 in one case — beginning in March of 2009 and lasting more than a year. George used a connection from Dover who ran a business in Dedham to handle the cash exchange, prosecutors allege.

The alleged money-laundering deals were videotaped and audio taped, federal officials state.

“Defense counsel play a critical role in the criminal justice system, protecting important constitutional rights upon which we all depend,” Ortiz said. “But when an attorney assists in the criminal concealment and laundering of drug money — as is alleged in this case — it impedes the administration of justice and is an affront to all ethical and law-abiding members of the bar.”

Steven Derr, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Division, said, “If convicted, Mr. George is no better than those who distribute illegal drugs.”

George could not be immediately reached.

Brockton attorney Kevin Reddington, a longtime friend and colleague, will be representing George in the laundering case. Reddington said he spoke with George’s wife shortly after the attorney was arrested at his house and spoke with George this morning.

“Anyone of us, whether it’s attorneys or court personnel or the media know that Bob is a real warrior. He’s a guy that has a very good reputation as an aggressive trial lawyer. He’s respected on both sides of the table in the courtroom,” Reddington told the Herald today. “He’s maintaining his innocence 100 percent and looks forward to proving it in court.”

Dave Wedge and Joe Dwinell contributed.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1325478

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25 yrs. After Crack: The Effect of Crack on Boston's Black Community Sat. 4/9

25 Years After Crack;
The Effect of Crack Cocaine on Boston's Black Community
(1986-2011)

Sat. April 9th, 2011
9am - 4pm
Hibernian Hall 184 Dudley St. Roxbury (Dudley Sq.)
sponsored by: Greatest Minds, National Black College Alliance

READ MORE - 25 yrs. After Crack: The Effect of Crack on Boston's Black Community Sat. 4/9

City worker quietly held job while facing drug rap

City worker quietly held job while facing drug rap

FLAHERTY-DELANO
By Richard Weir  |   Saturday, March 19, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

A City Hall staffer — who has quietly kept her job for eight months while awaiting trial for allegedly peddling prescription amphetamines in South Boston — was put on paid administrative leave yesterday after a Herald inquiry.

Kristine Flaherty-Delano, a $53,934-a-year administrative assistant in the city’s Property and Construction Management Department — and the sister of a scheduling secretary for Mayor Thomas M. Menino — was nabbed by Boston cops July 29 for allegedly selling Adderall within 1,000 feet of a school.

Adderall, a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine, is used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy but is commonly abused as an upper.

Flaherty-Delano, 43, is due to stand trial in May and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.

Flaherty-Delano’s attorney, Gary McGillvray, said his client strongly denies the charges. “They have no case,” he said. “I am 100 percent confident that my client will be acquitted.”

Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce said City Hall had no knowledge of Flaherty-Delano’s criminal charges — despite multiple court appearances, including one yesterday in Boston Municipal Court — until the Herald inquired about her employment status yesterday.

“She has been put on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the court proceedings and an internal review,” Joyce said. When asked when the leave took effect, Joyce replied: “Today.”

“The administration was not aware of the charges,” Joyce continued. “Her supervisor was aware of a court date but was unaware of the charge.”

According to city policy, only public safety workers are required to report their arrests. All other unionized municipal workers are exempt.

Police searched Flaherty-Delano in July after she got out of a car at West 5th and D streets, near the JF Condon School, court documents state. Officers found a bottle with 5A Adderall pills — and another seven Adderall pills in the car —as well as $94 cash, according to court documents.

Flaherty-Delano is the third City Hall staffer accused of dealing drugs in the past 16 months. John M. Forbes, Menino’s former East Boston liaison, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to dealing OxyContin and cocaine. Another city worker reportedly pleaded not guilty that month to charges he picked up a package containing nearly 2,000 OxyContin pills at a FedEx Kinkos downtown.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1324447

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Pressure grows to legalize medical pot 18 distribution centers eyed in Bay State

Pressure grows to legalize medical pot

18 distribution centers eyed in Bay State

By Christine McConville and Dave Wedge  |   Tuesday, March 1, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics

Pot “Wal-Marts” like those planned for California and other states could throw open their doors in the Bay State, as momentum builds for the legalization of medical marijuana.

Two years after Massachusetts decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot, a bill pending on Beacon Hill would allow prescriptions for medical marijuana and set up 18 distribution centers across Massachusetts.

“Since the 1930s, we’ve been fighting marijuana as the killer weed, and that has to stop,” said state Rep. Frank I. Smizik, a Brookline Democrat championing the bipartisan bill. “There are so many people suffering with serious diseases where marijuana is the only way to stop the pain and keep them going.”

Similar legislation is in place in Vermont and Rhode Island, where cancer and other chronically ill patients can buy reefer. Maine, which has allowed prescription weed for 12 years, is in the process of licensing eight dispensaries.

Meanwhile, a 10,000-square- foot gardening emporium, described in news reports as “the Wal-Mart of weed, just opened in Sacramento, offering experts and merchandise to help medical marijuana patients grow their own pot.

But even as the movement grows, some states are pulling back on their own medical marijuana laws amid spiking crime. The Montana House recently voted to repeal the state’s six-year-old medical marijuana law and in Colorado, seven towns have shut down dispensaries.

“We’ve had home invasions, and robberies and rip-offs of the people in the underground-growing business,” said Fort Collins, Colo. police Capt. Jerry Schiager. “The problem is it is so profitable, and the criminal element is so anxious to get in here and exploit this market, you have to be very careful.”

The Bay State proposal could be a money-maker for the commonwealth, Smizik said, as distribution centers will have to pay licensing fees of $5,000. And, he argues, it will also cut down on street crime as at least a portion of sales will be regulated by the state.

“A lot of medicines (patients) get, like OxyContin, are pretty dangerous ... Marijuana is the only thing that lets them function, and people have to go out on the street to buy it,” Smizik said.

The time is ripe for a “discussion” about legalizing medical marijuana in the Bay State, agreed state Rep. Daniel Winslow, a Wrentham Republican and former judge who noted a nonbinding referendum on the issue passed “overwhelmingly” in his district in the 2010 election.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1320136

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Cops arrest Shawn Drumgold on drug charges

Blackstonian Editor's Note: Shawn Drumgold is a friend of the Blackstonian. He and His Family remain in our prayers and we wish Shawn the best after suffering a life altering tragedy of his wrongful imprisonment.

Cops arrest Shawn Drumgold on drug charges

By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Friday, January 28, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

A man awarded — but not yet paid — $14 million by a jury for the 14 years he languished in prison after a wrongful murder conviction was busted by Boston cops Wednesday for allegedly peddling heroin and crack cocaine.

Shawn Drumgold, 45, of Fall River was rounded up from an apartment on Cardington Street in Roxbury with more than a half-dozen other individuals and what police executing a search warrant reported was seven bags of heroin and 12 bags of crack cocaine on the kitchen floor, five bags of crack inside a pill bottle and an open bag of crack with a straw sticking out on a bedroom table. Police said they found cut-off baggies on Drumgold.

“I can’t imagine he was intending to distribute anything. It certainly seems he’s made some poor choices. I talked to him at Christmas and he was doing great,” said Drumgold’s longtime defender, attorney Rosemary Scapicchio.

Drumgold, who is married and a father, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Roxbury District Court to possession with intent to distribute heroin and crack and two counts of violating the state’s drug laws. Judge David Weingarten released Drumgold on $500 cash bail.

In 1989, Drumgold was convicted of the notorious 1988 murder of 12-year-old Darlene Tiffany Moore. In a crime that shocked the city, Moore — who was perched on a mailbox — was gunned down on a summer night by two masked individuals who fired into a crowd. The case remains unsolved.

Drumgold’s conviction was overturned in 2003, and a U.S. District Court jury awarded him $14 million in October 2009 for the freedom he lost while behind bars. That money has not yet been paid.

“The city is awaiting the (federal) court’s entry of a final judgment on the verdict,” said Bill Sinnott, the city’s corporation counsel. “It will then consider its options for the filing of post-trial motions.”

Drumgold “walks the streets, and people think he’s a rich man. He doesn’t have $2 in his wallet,” Scapicchio said. “He wants to go to school. He’s struggling to get a job. I feel bad for him.”

Meanwhile, Moore’s “case remains open,” said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office. He declined to comment on Drumgold’s arrest.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1312509

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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

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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

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