"Mayoral ally draws scrutiny in Lawrence; Garage suddenly losing money" by Andrea Estes | Globe Staff, May 22, 2013
It started when the money collected at a city-owned parking garage began to drop mysteriously, turning one of Lawrence’s few cash cows into a source of worry. The losses got bad enough — averaging $7,000 per month — that someone called the FBI.
So began yet another corruption investigation in Lawrence, one of Massachusetts’ most beleaguered cities, putting the administration of Mayor William Lantigua in the crosshairs again....
The garage investigation continues more than three years of controversy that have dogged the city since Lantigua was elected in 2009 on an initial wave of good will as the state’s first Latino mayor.
That ended bout the time he wanted to keep his rep salary while being mayor.
Lantigua’s charisma and inspiring biography — a native of the Dominican Republic who rose to be a state representative and then to lead an American city of 76,000 — were quickly overtaken by a drumbeat of investigations and scandals.
Which provides an object lesson in charisma and politics.
Already, two of Lantigua’s closest allies are awaiting trial on public corruption charges. Former deputy police chief Melix Bonilla, Lantigua’s former campaign manager, and Leonard Degnan, his former chief of staff, were indicted last September on five counts including extortion and conspiracy.
See:
2 with ties to Mayor William Lantigua indicted
Earlier this year, Lantigua paid a $5,000 fine to settle a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Martha Coakley over his failure to file a required campaign finance report for months.
Related: AG sues Lawrence mayor, seeks campaign report, fine
In addition, Lantigua’s girlfriend, city employee Lorenza Ortega, had to repay $500 in home energy assistance in 2011 after it became public that the couple had received public aid despite a combined household income of $145,000.
Despite the near-constant turmoil and two failed attempts by voters to recall him from office, Lantigua is campaigning for reelection to a second four-year term this November. Six candidates are looking to oust the mayor, who has raised little money. Lantigua had only $15,683 in his campaign bank account at the end of 2012, the latest report available.
Related: Mayor William Lantigua finding support for 2d run
One of Lantigua’s opponents, Lawrence City Councilor at Large Daniel Rivera, said the negative press generated by Lantigua is “killing” the city and its residents.
“We have all these hard-working families and small business trying to make it through the week,” he said. “They deserve a mayor who supports them and makes headlines that are good about Lawrence, not negative. This stuff is killing them. The hard-working people are collateral damage.
“No one wants to have a 01840 zip code. He makes it hard for us to be the best Lawrence it can be if all that is in the newspaper is the negative stuff going on in the administration,” Rivera said.
Lantigua has acknowledged that he seems to be a magnet for controversy, but he has portrayed himself and his administration as victims of dirty politics. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another and another and another,” he told the Globe last year. “Where am I going to get the money for an attorney every week? . . . All I know is that at the end of the day, I have done nothing wrong.”
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It's a city that needed a state financial bailout a few years ago that donated a garbage truck to a remote city in the Dominican Republic....
Too big to fail or jail?
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NEXT DAY UPDATE: State aide investigates missing Lawrence garage funds
Related:
Last Call For Lantigua and LaBoy
Lord Lantigua of Lawrence answers to no one
More political shame in Lawrence
Taking Mayor William Lantigua out with the trash
Lantigua ally denies charge, released
Besieged mayor insists Lawrence rebounding
OTHER UPDATES: Lantigua mum after brief grand jury appearance
You can lien on him:
"Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua hit with a $5,475 tax lien" by Peter Schworm | Globe Staff, January 04, 2013
Just days after announcing his reelection bid, Mayor William Lantigua of Lawrence has been hit with a $5,475 tax lien for allegedly failing to pay state income tax in 2011.
The state Revenue Department filed the lien against Lantigua last week, the embattled mayor’s latest misstep in a three-year tenure dogged by controversy. The agency took the step after Lantigua did not respond to several notices over at least six months, a spokeswoman said.
“When we file a lien, it means we have not heard from a taxpayer,” said spokeswoman Ann Dufresne. The amount includes $710 in penalties and interest.
Lantigua did file a 2011 tax return, Dufresne said. She declined to say whether he has paid any state income tax, citing privacy guidelines.
Lantigua, who is paid $100,000 a year, did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment Thursday.
The Eagle-Tribune first reported the lien Thursday, a day after it was recorded at the registry of deeds. The lien attaches to any personal property, Dufresne said.
“It’s a notice of personal liability,” she said. “We’re protecting our interests.”
Tax liens impede property sales and make it “virtually impossible” for someone to obtain a mortgage, according to the Revenue Department.
If Lantigua does not pay the bill on his own, the state could turn to a collection agency, seek a bank levy, or garnish his paycheck.
Lantigua has touted his fiscal stewardship of the city, which in 2010 received a $35 million state bailout to bridge a massive deficit. With state oversight, the budget has stabilized.
Lantigua’s administration has been the target of an extensive state and federal corruption investigation, and in September two close associates, including his former chief of staff, were indicted on corruption charges, including conspiracy and extortion.
Melix Bonilla, the deputy police chief, was charged with falsely transferring the ownership of 13 motor vehicles from the Police Department to an auto dealer with close ties to Lantigua.
Leonard Degnan, Lantigua’s former chief of staff, was charged with using his position to compel a trash disposal company to donate a garbage truck to a Dominican Republic city that supported Lantigua’s mayoral campaign.
Both men have pleaded not guilty. Lantigua has denied wrongdoing and he has not been charged with any crimes.
Dan Rivera, a city councilor in Lawrence, said Lantigua’s failure to pay his taxes in full and on time was troubling, and set a poor example....
City Councilor Kendrys Vasquez said Lantigua’s nonpayment of taxes was hard to understand given Lantigua’s high salary.
“We all face difficulties nowadays, but we have to be responsible,” he said.
Kevin Cuff, a recent state representative candidate, said Lantigua’s failure to pay taxes would hurt him in the eyes of ordinary voters who may not have followed past City Hall controversies.
“This is finally something that will resonate with people,” he said.
City Councilor Sandy Almonte said the lapse was “obviously concerning,” and that she hoped Lantigua would resolve the matter quickly.
“We don’t want this to be another rain cloud over the city,” Almonte said.
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Related: State removes lien against Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua
Time to party:
"Lawrence police trying to determine motive behind shooting that left two men wounded" by John R. Ellement | Globe Staff, March 18, 2013
More than a dozen shots were fired in Lawrence early Sunday morning in front of a house where a birthday party earlier for a 7-year-old child had turned into a party for adults.
Police were trying to determine Monday if two men hospitalized with gunshot wounds after the incident are innocent victims or combatants.
“We’ve got more questions than answers,’’ Police Chief John Romero said in a telephone interview Monday.
According to Romero, when his officers were on the scene assisting one of the gunshot victims on Brook Street, officers heard more shots being fired. Officers raced around the corner and recovered a firearm and arrested one man in the illegal possession of a firearm.
Jose Rivera of Lawrence was charged with possession of a firearm without an identification card and carrying a firearm without a license, police said....
The chief said his officers also want to question another man who showed up at Lawrence General Hospital many hours after the shooting. That man had multiple gunshot wounds to his lower extremities. He is expected to recover, Romero said.
“If you are totally innocent, and if you are shot, why would you not just go to the hospital immediately?” Romero said....
An illegal immigrant?
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Maybe it was a kid?
"Lawrence police arrest 3 teen robbery suspects" by Todd Feathers | Globe Correspondent, February 08, 2013
Lawrence police arrested three alleged members of a gang responsible for at least eight armed robberies, during apparent preparations for another robbery, police said.
At least one of the men was employed through the city’s youth violence program.
Just before midnight Tuesday, police stopped a Honda Odyssey matching the description of a getaway car used during a Jan. 18 armed robbery of the South Union Street Market.
The officers arrested Julio Pazzini, 18; Hector Medina, 19; and Oscar Concepcion, 19, for possession of high-capacity firearms without a license. Pazzini, was also charged with assault and battery of a police officer, according to a police report.
Police are also seeking two men who fled in the Honda, which crashed into another car. Moises Matos-Diaz, 19, and Wilfredy Delacruz, 20, escaped from police after the Honda crashed into another car, the report said.
Pazzini has been a member of Lawrence’s Safe and Successful Youth Initiative, a program funded by an $800,000 state grant that places youth with a history of violence in city labor jobs, said Art McCabe, director of the Lawrence program.
WTF?
“I’m obviously greatly disappointed,” McCabe said. “The program is designed to go after people in these extreme situations, so disappointment is sometimes inevitable.”
On Jan. 22, three other members of the gang, who were also members of the youth program, were arrested following a convenience store robbery in which they held a clerk hostage before surrendering to police.
The gang, which calls itself the Everybody Killers, or EBK, is suspected of being responsible for several armed robberies of convenience stores in the area, Lawrence Police Chief John J. Romero said in a brief phone interview....
McCabe said that prior to his arrest, Pazzini was performing admirably at Bellvue Cemetery, where he worked through the youth program.
“If you had asked me Monday if I thought there was any sign this would happen, I would have said no,” he said. “Often times, these kids are drawn into a gang before they even realize it.”
When they stopped the vehicle Tuesday night, officers observed several of the men inside suspiciously cradling their waistband areas as if they were carrying guns, the report said. Three of the men were wearing long, knitted caps that could have been pulled down to hide their faces, the report said.
Romero said it seemed likely the men were on their way to commit another robbery.
When an officer asked Pazzini to step out of the vehicle, he removed a gun from his waistband and threw it back into the car, which sped off.
Officers subdued Pazzini and chased after the car, which crashed into a parked vehicle. Matos-Diaz, the driver, and Delacruz escaped on foot, the report said.
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Meanwhile, down in the Dominican:
"Two plead guilty in Massachusetts to child porn, traveling abroad for sex with minor" by Travis Andersen | Globe Staff, April 05, 2013
Two men pleaded guilty in Massachusetts on Thursday to charges in separate cases, one involving viewing child pornography on a commercial flight and the other for traveling to the Dominican Republic for sex with an underage girl, authorities said.
One defendant, Grant D. Smith, 48, of Salt Lake City, received a suspended sentence of 2½ years, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office said....
A fellow passenger on a flight from Utah to Boston in November of 2011 noticed Smith watching child pornography on a laptop, according to authorities. Massachusetts State Police arrested him at Logan International Airport.
Investigators found obscene photos on the laptop of girls between the ages of 5 and 14, according to prosecutors.
Smith taught science and engineering at the University of Utah at the time of his arrest and was placed on leave. He resigned in February 2012, a school spokesman said.
Smith has no prior record and will avoid jail time if he adheres to several probationary conditions for the next five years, said Jake Wark, Conley’s spokesman.
As part of his probation, he must continue sex offender treatment and have no unsupervised contact with minors, except for his own children. Contact with them will be determined by the court, the statement said.
Also Thursday, Conrad Gallant, 61, of Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty in federal court in Worcester to charges that he repeatedly traveled to the Dominican Republic over a one-year period beginning in early 2011 to have sex with a girl, starting when she was 14, according to officials and court records.
The girl told investigators that she brought other girls around the same age to him for sex, an affidavit shows.
Gallant’s plea agreement calls for a prison sentence of between five and 14 years, though a judge can impose a maximum term of 60 years at sentencing in June, according to a court filing. His lawyers could not be reached.
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Related: Mucking Around With Menendez
And what goes with sex?
"GOING UP IN SMOKE -- Officials from the Dominican Republic's attorney general's office prepared packets of cocaine for incineration in Santa Domingo on Thursday. Nearly 2 tons of cocaine had been confiscated from an international drug smuggling ring (April 5 2013)."
UPDATE:
"Kickback scheme alleged in Lawrence" by Travis Andersen | Globe Staff, March 12, 2013
The State Ethics Commission is accusing a former Lawrence High School teacher of paying kickbacks to School Department employees so they would steer contracts to his small business.
“I am innocent,” Algird Sunskis, 65, of Lanesborough said Monday night. “I have great difficulty believing that the people in authority and responsible positions at Lawrence public [schools] would be forced to destroy me with their lies. I just don’t know what they fear.”
According to an order the commission made public on Monday, Sunskis, while teaching at the high school, paid two School Department employees a total of about $2,600 in 2008 to obtain contracts for Wellington House Publishing Inc., a business he co-owned.
The contracts were worth a total of about $11,000 to provide timesheets, pocket folders, and a folding machine to the Lawrence schools.
On Monday night, Sunskis insisted that the two employees, who are no longer with the School Department, lured his company into the contract arrangements under false pretenses and that the alleged kickbacks were payments for expenses that he believed were tied to school operations.
He said that he and his co-owner at Wellington unwittingly stumbled into a web of corruption at the School Department and that officials retaliated against him for his efforts to reform school practices and expose sexual harassment of a teacher.
The two former employees in question, John Laurenza and Charles Birchall, settled their cases with the Ethics Commission by agreeing to pay fines of $4,536 and $8,449, respectively.
A working phone number for Birchall could not immediately be located. Laurenza did not return a message seeking comment late Monday night.
The commission said in a statement that it will schedule a public hearing for Sunskis within 90 days.
Sunskis contends that he was fired by the Lawrence schools, but that could not be confirmed late Monday night.
A spokesman for Lawrence schools said Sunskis taught at the high school from 2003 to 2009, but declined further comment because the department does not discuss personnel matters.
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