Judges rips gun access at sentencing of ‘career criminal’

Judges rips gun access at sentencing of ‘career criminal’

By Laura Crimaldi  |   Wednesday, April 27, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

A Hub judge disgusted by easy access to guns on city streets sentenced a Dorchester “career criminal” to 14 to 15 years behind bars today for paralyzing a 19-year-old who was trying to shield his younger brother from gunfire.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly said the confrontation that left Joao Perreira without the full use of his legs would have only been a quickly forgotten fist fight if the suspect did not have an illegal .357 magnum.

“This was a very, very serious crime that I’m sure nobody thought was going to happen that night,” Connolly said before sentencing Daunte Beal, 23. “Once again the availability of guns. Guns, guns. guns. If the guns were not available this would have never have happened. ... The availability of guns is the biggest problem in this city.”

Perreira and his brother, Ovidido, then 15, were at a birthday party on July 13, 2008, when the shooting took place, prosecutors said.

Beal shot at Perreira and his brother after a confrontation with a group of people who threw bottles at Beal’s car. One bottle shattered a car window and struck Beal in the head, drawing blood, prosecutors said.

That incident was preceded by a verbal argument earlier in the evening that was settled amicably, prosecutors said. Authorities said Beal drove to the Howard Avenue party after that confrontation and threatened to slap anyone who had a problem.

After being struck, Beal got out of his car carrying a .357 magnum revolver, prosecutors said. The Perreira brothers and another man ran to the back of a nearby building as Beal tailed them, firing twice. The brothers ran to a porch and tried to open a locked door to escape. Prosecutors said Beal fired three more times at the brothers from 6 to 8 feet away. A bullet struck Jaoa Perreira in the lower back, leaving him in a wheelchair most of the time, prosecutors said.

The brothers did not attend the sentencing.

Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Janezic asked for a harsher sentence that would have put Beal away for 29 to 30 years. Under career criminal laws, Beal had to serve a minimum of 10 years because of his prior convictions for assault and battery, cocaine possession and assault and battery on a public employee, Janezic said.

Beal, dressed in a sweater, dress shirt, neck tie and eye glasses, waved to his parents and siblings as he was led away in handcuffs and leg shackles.

His father, Leon Beal, said his son is innocent and appealing the jury’s decision.

“I don’t see how he was found guilty,” he said. “I have sympathy for (Perreira) but my concern is for my child.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1333704

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James Marzilli sentenced to 3 months in jail

James Marzilli sentenced to 3 months in jail
By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Tuesday, February 22, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Nancy Lane

LOWELL — Condemning his creepy behavior as “repulsive” and “potentially dangerous,” a judge today sentenced former state Sen. Joseph “Jim” Marzilli to three months in the Billerica House of Correction for the grandfather’s 2008 sex-crazed spree in Lowell, when he accosted four women in one day while on official business.

“I think he’s an ill man, I really, really do. I believe the behavior that was exhibited that day was due to mental illness. You don’t live your life for 50 years with no issues and have this come out of nowhere,” Marzilli’s attorney, Terrence Kennedy, said after the sentencing in Lowell Superior Court.

One of Marzilli’s victims was handicapped.

Former state Sen. George Bachrach, a longtime friend of Marzilli’s who came to court to support the legislator, said, “Jim Marzilli made a mistake. He’s going to pay for it. Clearly, he became unglued. How else do you explain what happened?”

Kennedy predicted the Arlington Democrat, who is being treated for bipolar disorder and anxiety, will serve less than 55 days of the punishment superior court Judge Paul Chernoff handed down after Marzilli pleaded guilty to the accosting charges, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

With his wife looking on in tears, Marzilli also admitted there were sufficient facts for a jury to find him guilty of the felony charge of attempted indecent assault and battery for reaching for the crotch of a nurse’s assistant waiting on a bench for a patient.

That charge threatened up to five years in state prison, but because Chernoff continued it without a finding for one year — rather than declare Marzilli guilty, as assistant Middlesex District Attorney Elizabeth Dunigan pushed for — the disgraced pol will not have to register as a sex offender.

He is, however, on probation for five years effective immediately. Upon his release from jail, Chernoff ordered that Marzilli’s first year of release be spent on a GPS bracelet subject to exclusionary zones to be determined by prosecutors. He must also perform 200 hours of community service.

Unable to secure work for the past three years — “Look him up on the Internet. That’s the end of it,” Kennedy said of his employment possibilities — Marzilli has been doing volunteer work with at-risk Somali children and botanical gardening.

On Kennedy’s advice, Marzilli elected not to address Chernoff. Had he, Kennedy said, “I think he would have apologized — to everybody.”

None of the victims came to court, either, though Chernoff stressed each “should be recognized for courageously coming forward.” Authorities said Marzilli said to one victim: “The sex is sweet, the sex is sweet, you want it and you want to go with me.”

In the city on June 3, 2008, for a function at Federal Fabrics-Fibers, Marzilli approached the women both on foot and in a car over the course of four hours, making lewd remarks about their bodies. They, in return, called him a pervert and told him to spend $20 on a hooker.

Dunigan told Chernoff some of the women are now afraid to go to downtown Lowell.

Dunigan said one victim remarked to her of Marzilli, “He makes the law and then he breaks them.”

“At the time of his arrest, he was focused on himself, his career, his future,” Dunigan said. “Maybe in time it can be a little bit about what these women lost on the streets of Lowell.”

Marzilli’s commitment to public service began in 1976, when he served as a legislative aide while a student at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1318535

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Patrick wants City Hall to take over appointees to Boston Licensing Board

Patrick wants City Hall to take over appointees to Boston Licensing Board

February 18, 2011 04:42 PM
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick today proposed legislation transferring control of the Boston Licensing Board back to the mayor of Boston for the first time in more than 100 years, while announcing two new appointments to the board.

Nicole Murati Ferrer, a lawyer who works in the city of Boston's law department, will take over immediately as chairwoman, filling the seat vacated last June when Daniel F. Pokaski stepped down.

The governor's office also announced that on June 30 Michael Connolly will step down after 11 1/2 years on the board. Connolly's seat will be filled by Milton Wright, a retired district court judge who sat for many years in Roxbury Municipal Court.

Wright would be the first African-American on the board since Clarence Elam, who was appointed by Governor Christian Herter in the 1950s.

FULL STORY HERE:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/02/patrick_wants_c.html

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DiMasi, codefendants to seek dismissal of charges

DiMasi, codefendants to seek dismissal of charges

By Andrea Estes
Globe Staff / January 26, 2011

Lawyers for former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and three codefendants will ask a federal judge today to throw out corruption charges against their clients, arguing that prosecutors have no legal basis to move forward with a sweeping fraud and conspiracy case.

US District Court Chief Mark Wolf will hear more than a dozen motions brought by DiMasi and three associates, who were accused in a 33-page indictment in June 2009 of conspiring to steer two state contracts to a software firm in exchange for cash payments, including $57,000 allegedly funneled to DiMasi through a former law associate.

FOR FULL STORY CLICK HERE
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/26/dimasi_codefendants_to_seek_dismissal_of_charges/

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Chuck Turner sentenced to 3 years in jail

Chuck Turner sentenced to 3 years in jail

By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Monday, January 25, 2021  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

A federal judge today sentenced former city councilor and civil rights crusader Charles “Chuck” Turner to three years in jail for pocketing a $1,000 bribe while in office and then lying about it to the FBI.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock sentenced Turner to 36 months this afternoon and three years of supervised release. And, the judge added, he must repay the $1,000 bribe.

The Harvard-educated Turner, 70, of Roxbury, was facing up to 35 years in the slammer for taking a wad of cash from Boston businessman Ron Wilburn during a 2007 “preacher’s handshake” in Turner’s district office. Wilburn claimed to be seeking political muscle to obtain a liquor license for a proposed nightclub in Roxbury, but was videotaping the exchange as an undercover operative for the FBI.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1311965

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Rep. Tierney’s wife sentenced to prison

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

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Pre-sentencing hearing set for Dianne Wilkerson

Pre-sentencing hearing set for Dianne Wilkerson

By Associated Press  |   Wednesday, December 22, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics

BOSTON (-- A federal judge is set to hear more testimony before selecting a final sentencing date for former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson on corruption charges.

Wilkerson’s sentencing was originally scheduled for Wednesday. But U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock is now expected to take testimony that morning from a developer who claims Wilkerson solicited bribes from her.

Wilkerson was not charged over those alleged payments, and her lawyer has said she did not solicit the money. Woodlock is expected to set Wilkerson’s sentencing date after hearing the developer’s testimony.

Wilkerson pleaded guilty in June to eight counts of attempted extortion after she was captured on video stuffing bribe money into her bra. She was accused of taking $23,500 in bribes to help get a liquor license for a nightclub and an undercover agent posing as a businessman.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1304807

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Ireland takes place atop Mass. Supreme Court

Ireland takes place atop Mass. Supreme Court
By Associated Press  |   Sunday, December 19, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics

Photo by AP

BOSTON - Gov. Deval Patrick has sworn in the first black chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Roderick Ireland replaces Margaret Marshall.

As chief, Ireland will oversee the state’s sprawling court system, which has been plagued by high caseloads, budget challenges and allegations of political favoritism.

Gov. Patrick, the state’s first black chief executive, says he is proud to have been able to name the first black chief justice.

Ireland, a Springfield native, says he’ll seek more transparency for the courts while promising to do the best he can with current financial resources.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1304234

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Judge to hear testimony in Dianne Wilkerson case

Judge to hear testimony in Dianne Wilkerson case

By Associated Press  |   Sunday, December 19, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics

BOSTON — A federal judge is expected to hear more testimony before scheduling a sentencing date for former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson on corruption charges.

Wilkerson’s sentencing was scheduled to occur Wednesday, but Judge Douglas Woodlock is now expected to take testimony that day from a developer who claims Wilkerson solicited bribes from her.

Wilkerson was not charged in connection with those alleged payments, and her lawyer has said she did not solicit the money. Woodlock is expected to set Wilkerson’s sentencing date after hearing the developer’s testimony Wednesday.

Wilkerson pleaded guilty in June to eight counts of attempted extortion after she was captured on video stuffing bribe money into her sweater and bra.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1304236

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Deliberations ongoing in Boston cigarette lawsuit

Deliberations ongoing in Boston cigarette lawsuit

By Associated Press  |   Monday, December 13, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

BOSTON - Jurors in a lawsuit by the family of a Massachusetts woman who accused a tobacco company of enticing black children to smoke are scheduled to resume deliberations after saying they were deadlocked.

A Suffolk Superior Court judge asked the jury Friday to keep deliberating after the said they were deadlocked.

Deliberations resume Monday.

In the case, the son of a Boston woman who died of lung cancer is suing the maker of Newport cigarettes.

Marie Evans’ son says Lorillard Tobacco Co. lured her to start smoking at age 13 by giving away cigarette samples at her Boston housing project.

Lawyers for North Carolina-based Lorillard say there is no evidence to support that claim, and that it was Evans’ choice to start and continue smoking.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1302776

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Turner loyalists just fooling themselves

Turner loyalists just fooling themselves
By Joe Fitzgerald | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Photo by Matthew Healey (file)

Chuck Turner says he’s “surprised” Tom Menino would call for his resignation from the City Council, as if it’s odd that a mayor would distance himself from the odious presence of a sticky-fingered pol.

The only thing “odd” about Menino’s ultimatum is his willingness to lock horns with this disgraced Roxbury felon, given the shameful silence of other office-holders who appear to be terrorized by Turner’s ruthless demagoguery.

Likening himself to slaves “who were whipped and lashed and hung,” the convicted councilor has the repulsive gall to cast himself as a martyr, wrapping himself in the robes of those who suffered for human dignity, for basic justice, as if he, too, had lost his liberty in the pursuit of something noble.

But where’s the nobility in being identified as a crook by a jury of your peers? Where’s the nobility in accepting a bribe? Where’s the nobility in being exposed as a two-bit hustler willing to sell his soul for a measly grand?

Contrition? Please. Try defiance.

Little wonder Chuck’s “surprised” that Menino would take the high road, since it’s clearly “the road less traveled” by the political lemmings who masquerade as public servants in this town.

Now Chuck’s producing a batch of letters from diehard loyalists who profess to love him despite his shortcomings, which says more about them than it does about him; it’s not unlike those bizarre marriage proposals sent by sentimental dolts to incarcerated barbarians.

Who can explain such wayward affections, other than surmising they have simply allowed their hearts to overrule their heads.

As for black history, which he soils with his self-serving exploitation, Chuck brings to mind the words of Frederick Douglass, the famed abolitionist, talking about confronting power: “Find out what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.”

Indeed, most of his constituents know that Chuck Turner’s corruption is not reflective of them. So why submit to him?

A few years ago a Mattapan reader named Sheila Gunn called to lament what she felt was an unfair image.

“If all you know of Mattapan is what you see on TV or read in the papers, you end up judging all of us by just a little bit of truth. Well, I’m sorry, that’s not fair.”

She was right, and it’s no less unfair for residents of Turner’s district to be besmirched by a continuing identity with him.

Menino was right. The sooner this fraud is gone, the better.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1296395

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Mass. stamp of approval

Mass. stamp of approval
By Natalie Sherman | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Politics

PEN PALS: City Councilor Chuck Turner, convicted of taking a $1,000 bribe and lying to the FBI, is the focus of a supportive letter-writing campaign.
Photo by Ted Fitzgerald

Letters and petitions with hundreds of signatures asking a federal judge to go easy on convicted City Councilor Chuck Turner have arrived at the U.S. District Court in Boston, echoing Turner’s plea that he didn’t do anything wrong and should be allowed to stay free and in public office.

“He’s a good man who may have to spend 20 years in jail. He is a good man who really is not a criminal, not even a white collar criminal,” insisted Lincoln resident Cynthia Ritsher, 76, a member of the Alliance for Democracy, confirming for the Herald that she sent a letter of support. She was one of a number of activists from outside Turner’s District 7 to speak up for him.

Last month, a jury convicted Turner of taking a $1,000 bribe and lying to the FBI. The case was part of a broader corruption sting in which former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson pleaded guilty. Turner is due to be sentenced Jan. 25 and could face more than 20 years in prison.

As of yesterday, four letters and seven copies of a petition with a total of 265 signatures had been filed asking Judge Douglas Woodcock to give Turner probation so that he can continue to serve on the City Council.

“I just think that this is way out of proportion,” letter-writer Alison Gottlieb, 63, of Jamaica Plain, a member of Dorchester for Peace, told the Herald. “Giving people jail time for something like this is a waste of taxpayer money.”

Turner has served on the Council since 1999. He has said he will not step down before his term ends next year, despite pressure, including Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s call for his resignation.

The City Council will hold a hearing Dec. 1 to determine whether or not to expel Turner from the board. Turner has said he will not run for re-election.

Many of the supporters reached yesterday said they don’t know Turner personally or even live in his district, but had collaborated with him on prison reform and peace initiatives through local activist groups.

“He has done a tremendous job for the Roxbury district,” said Lizella Reed, 70, of Dorchester, who signed one of the petitions. “I don’t live in that district but I’ve seen the results ... All my friends are very pleased with him. They have voted for him over and over again, as has my grandson.”

Supporters also said they believed the FBI targeted Turner because he is black.

“It’s interesting that the two people he tried to get hold of are Chuck and Dianne Wilkerson, who are both black,” Ritsher said. “That whole racism bit that’s always there.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1296394

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Deval Patrick nominates Springfield native Roderick Ireland to be chief justice of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Deval Patrick nominates Springfield native Roderick Ireland to be chief justice of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Published: Thursday, November 04, 2010, 10:03 AM    
 The Associated Press

 Justice Roderick L. Ireland embraces well-wishers after receiving the oath of office, becoming the first black Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 1997 at the State House in Boston. (AP Photo/ Victoria Arocho)

Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Roderick Ireland through the years gallery (14 photos)
http://photos.masslive.com/4502/gallery/massachusetts_supreme_court_justice_roderick_ireland_through_the_years/index.html?fromentry=5237517&fromblog=865
GLEN JOHNSON, AP Political Writer

BOSTON (AP) — Deval Patrick, the first black governor of Massachusetts, is nominating Roderick L. Ireland to be the first black chief justice of the state's Supreme Judicial Court, two top Massachusetts Democrats said Thursday.
Ireland, currently the senior associate justice on the high court, would replace the retiring Chief Justice Margaret Marshall if he's confirmed by the Governor's Council. The Democrats confirmed Ireland's nomination on the condition of anonymity in advance of a Statehouse news conference with the governor.
The chief justice administers the seven-member court and oversees the Massachusetts trial and appellate court systems.
A principle power is the authority to decide which justice writes an opinion. Marshall reserved that for herself in 2003 when she authored the court's 4-3 decision to make Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage.
In nominating Ireland, Patrick also gets a second appointment to the court. If he's confirmed, Patrick will get to pick Ireland's replacement as associate justice.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
The accomplishments of Roderick L. Ireland, who is among the judges said to be under review by Gov. Deval L. Patrick for appointment as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court:
Education: Springfield Classical High School, 1962; Lincoln University, 1966; Columbia Law School, 1969; Harvard University Law School, 1975; Northeastern University, Ph.D. in Law, Policy and Society Program, 1997
Legal: Neighborhood Legal Services, New York City, 1969-70; Harvard Center for Law and Education, 1970-71; Roxbury Defenders Committee, Boston, 1971-73; Harvard Law School teaching fellow, 1974; Massachusetts Civil Service Commission hearing officer, 1973-75; Executive Office for Administration and Finance general counsel, 1975-77; Roxbury District Court Clinic legal counsel, 1974-77
Judiciary: Boston Juvenile Court, 1977-90; Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1990-1997; Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1997-present
Marshall announced her retirement in July, saying she wanted to spend more time with her ailing husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. Patrick asked her to stay until after Tuesday's election to avoid politicizing his selection. The governor, a Democrat, ended up winning a second term.
Ireland was appointed to the court in 1997 after having previously served on the Massachusetts Appeals Court for seven years and the Boston Juvenile Court for almost 13 years.
He received his bachelors from Lincoln University, his juris doctorate from Columbia University Law School, a masters from Harvard Law School and a doctorate from Northeastern University.
All court nominees in Massachusetts have to be approved by the Governor's Council, a nine-member panel led by Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray.
© 2010 masslive.com. All rights reserved.

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