"Ex-trooper sentenced for role in drug ring
A former Massachusetts state trooper who was once commended for taking down drug dealers was sentenced Thursday to five years and 10 months in federal prison for conspiring with one of his informants to sell OxyContin and helping him collect drug debts. Mark V. Lemieux, 51, of Norfolk, admitted that he arranged for his girlfriend, Tara I. Drummey, to work as a drug courier for the informant, who sent her to Florida to obtain OxyContin and bring it back to Massachusetts.
Oh, the pain!
FLASHBACK:
""Ex-state trooper pleads guilty in drug case
A former state trooper who had served on the Bristol County Drug Task Force pleaded guilty yesterday to drug and extortion conspiracy charges, authorities said....
Mark Lemieux of Norfolk was arrested in May 2007, along with retired state trooper Joseph Catanese of Sandwich, after they worked with a longtime informant to traffic OxyContin in Massachusetts, according to the Justice Department.
Always an INFORMANT right in the middle of it, too!!!!
Lemieux, Catanese, and two others, Tara Drummey of Norfolk and Patrick McCarthy of Yarmouth, were charged with conspiring to distribute OxyContin. Lemieux, Catanese, and McCarthy were also charged with conspiring to extort drug debt. State Police and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched an investigation in November 2006 after the informant was stopped at Logan International Airport on his way to Florida with a large sum of money and drugs.
According to the Justice Department, Lemieux and Drummey, his live-in girlfriend, made several trips to Florida for OxyContin. Catanese and McCarthy were recruited by Lemieux to help collect drug debts and distribute drugs....
And for those who think I ignore Repug crimes and hypocrisy:
"Former state GOP official gets 7-year prison term" by Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | May 23, 2009
The former vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison yesterday, three months after he pleaded guilty to laundering drug profits for a law client....
Authorities arrested Lawrence P. Novak in 2005 after investigators said he offered to launder drug profits for Scott Holyoke, a federal detainee who faced methamphetamine trafficking charges in federal court....
Novak said he was "too loose with my talk" when making comments to Holyoke that were secretly tape-recorded by authorities....
Are you so sure you love that Patriot Act, Amurkan lawyers?
That's a CLEAR VIOLATION of the LAWYER-CLIENT PRIVILEGE of COMMUNICATION!!!!
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You don't seem to care. Why not?
"Novak guilty of laundering drug profits; GOP official may face prison term" by Denise Lavoie, Associated Press | February 3, 2009
The former vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee pleaded guilty to federal money-laundering charges yesterday in a scheme to "cleanse" drug money for a legal client.
So much for being a Republican around here.
Lawrence P. Novak entered his pleas as he was about to go on trial in US District Court. Novak, 57, was arrested in 2005 after investigators said he offered to launder drug profits for Scott Holyoke, a client of Novak's who was awaiting sentencing on federal drug trafficking charges and who agreed to be a cooperating witness against Novak.
The charges were unrelated to Novak's GOP role. He resigned his post as vice chairman of the Republican State Committee shortly after his arrest but had served as a regular committee member since winning election in 2008.
How can it be unrelated? WTF?
According to the indictment, Novak, a Brockton lawyer, offered to have Holyoke sign false affidavits in an attempt to invalidate some of his earlier state convictions. That would reduce the sentence he would face in his federal case. Novak also offered to launder $107,000 in cash he knew Holyoke had made illegally from selling drugs. He said he would take $60,000 as a legal fee and offered to "cleanse" another $47,000 Holyoke had in a safe deposit box.
An undercover agent from the Internal Revenue Service who posed as Holyoke's aunt gave Novak about $107,000 in cash and told him it was drug proceeds. Novak was arrested after he took the money to Eastern Bank in Brockton, deposited $77,000 into an existing account and withdrew $30,000 in bank checks and money orders.
Why don't we just DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS?
Government is the main drug trafficker anyway!
Why should TAX DOLLARS also go to FIGHTING IT?
Novak pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering. He also pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to a single count of obstruction of justice, maintaining his innocence but conceding prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
Assistant US Attorney Brian Kelly said prosecutors had planned to play taped conversations for the jury in which Novak was heard telling Holyoke, "You need to clean the money." Novak's attorney, William Cintolo, said Novak decided to plead guilty because of Holyoke's expected testimony.
"We had an informant who was going to make certain assertions. The question was, would a jury believe him? In light of that, we thought it was in his best interests to plead," Cintolo said.
Novak will be sentenced on May 13. Kelly said federal guidelines suggest a prison term of about five years. Barney Keller, a spokesman for the GOP committee, said that under the committee's bylaws, Novak will be automatically expelled because of his felony convictions.Well, I guess that's better than the DemocraPs!
Thank God for small favors.
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