That is what they are calling it, with unindicted coconspirators, too:
"DeLeo could be further haunted by probation verdict" by Milton J. Valencia and Claire McNeill | Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent July 24, 2014
O’Brien’s conspiracy....
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz would not say why House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo was not charged and would not respond to the speaker’s criticism.
“We’re not trying this case in the media, and we’re not going to go into any analysis,” Ortiz said. “We made allegations based on the evidence, and the allegations that we made were in court in support of the indictment and in pursuit of obtaining the justice that we believe that we received today.”
DeLeo’s office issued a statement Thursday evening, saying the jury’s verdict confirms what he has claimed — that he did not engage in a quid pro quo arrangement with the Probation Department officials.
“With respect to the jury’s verdict, it must be noted that the jury confirmed that neither I nor any member of the Legislature had engaged in any inappropriate conduct,” the statement read. “While the defendants were convicted of many of the charges, the jury specifically rejected the government’s allegation of bribery.
“The jury’s verdict confirmed what I have been saying all along: that I never participated in a conspiracy with any of the defendants and that I never traded probation jobs for votes.”
I'm not a crook.
According to one legal analyst, the verdict speaks to the responsibility of the three defendants and the system as a whole, but does not directly implicate DeLeo in a crime.
“I think it implicates a system that three people took advantage of,” said Gerard T. Leone Jr., a former state and federal prosecutor who is now a defense lawyer for the law firm Nixon Peabody. “Three people were convicted, and I think a patronage system was convicted, but I don’t think it attaches to Bob DeLeo personally, nor do I think it should.”
Yes, let's not upset the applecart of state government.
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It really doesn't matter whether he was charged or not; the scandal itself has exposed the $elf-$erving ince$tuou$ne$$ of $tate government in Ma$$achu$hitts.
"Outcome brings few words from lawmakers" by Michael Levenson | Globe Staff July 25, 2014
It was hard to find anyone on Beacon Hill who was willing to speak out. Outside the Senate chamber, senators insisted they had to be somewhere else, had not read the verdict, or were busy with other business.
The silence illustrated the pall the trial has cast over the State House — which has long operated in a culture of patronage and loyalty — and reignited the central question of how much will change in the way business is done on Beacon Hill.
An$wer: none. I've been doing this eight years, and nothing has.
Those who did release statements, most notably, Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray, rejected any suggestion that they were involved....
Even though no lawmakers have been charged, the probation scandal caused deep anxiety on Beacon Hill. Legislators have seen three consecutive speakers ensnared in legal troubles: Charles F. Flaherty pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1996; Thomas M. Finneran pleaded guilty in 2007 to obstruction of justice for giving false testimony in a redistricting trial; and Salvatore F. DiMasi is serving eight years in federal prison after being convicted in 2011 on corruption charges.
Poor Sal, ridden out over a few thousand dollars because he was blocking casinos and now dying in prison.
Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, a Dorchester Democrat, called the probation verdict sad, and argued the tradition of patronage has begun to change in recent years.
Still, she said, helping constituents find work is part of her job. When she makes a recommendation, she said, she only asks that her constituents be granted an interview.
“It’s not guaranteeing jobs,” said Dorcena Forry, who was among the few lawmakers willing to speak to reporters about the verdict. “It’s always been part of our work in terms of the constituents we represent.”
Like I said....
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Governor Deval Patrick expressed confidence that the legislative favor-trading depicted in the trial has already been addressed by a reorganization of the Probation Department approved in 2011 after the scandal broke, but Murray, who was among the legislators said by witnesses to be recommending candidates for probation jobs, went on the defensive after the verdict, saying the Senate president’s office regularly receives hundreds of requests from constituents seeking housing, health care, and other help....
That's why Murray is stepping down and handing leadership over to Rosenberg.
Related:
“The damage that was done in those 10 years [under O’Brien] was deep, really deep. That doesn’t get cured in weeks.”
Also see: Patrick on Probation
Apparently it does if you listen to our failure of governor. What a disgusted magician of imagery and illusion he turned out to be. This state is in horrible shape as he leaves.
Stopping briefly in a State House hallway, she declined to answer questions from reporters.
“I put out a statement,” Murray said. “I’ll stand by the statement. I’m not going to make any further comment.”
House Republican leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. called the case “further testament to the utter failure and negative consequences one-party government represents to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth.”
It's true.
“The jury’s verdict should serve as a loud and clear message that the way the Democratic-led state government operates desperately needs to change,” he said.
Outside the Senate chamber, several Democratic lawmakers were not inclined to speak to waiting reporters....
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The jury rejected the charge of bribery probably because of the endless stream of lobbyists hanging around the place.
"3 guilty in probation corruption case; Federal jury finds excommissioner O’Brien led corrupt hiring operation" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe staff July 24, 2014
John J. O’Brien, the disgraced former probation commissioner accused of corruption, was convicted Thursday in a sweeping verdict that found he ran the department like a criminal enterprise, handing out jobs to the politically powerful for his own personal benefit.
O’Brien’s top aide, Elizabeth Tavares, 57, was also convicted of aiding and abetting the scheme, and a deputy, William Burke III, 71, was found guilty of participating in a racketeering conspiracy.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for 51 hours over seven days before reaching the verdict, which one of the jurors said should serve as a “wake-up” to Beacon Hill.
“After weeks of testimony, it became clear there was serious corruption in the practices of the Probation Department,” US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz told reporters outside the courthouse.
“Bottom line, the evidence showed, and clearly the jury agreed, that this case was about fraud perpetrated by Mr. O’Brien and his deputies on the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
Vincent Lisi, special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, added, “This should send a message to corrupt public officials out there that there is nothing that is going to get in our way from identifying them and bringing them to justice, like we did in this case.”
O’Brien, 57, appeared to be trembling as the verdict was read, and he hung his head low. Burke and Tavares were also clearly distraught, and their family members cried out against the verdict. US District Court Judge William G. Young ordered them to quiet down. O’Brien’s wife grew ill and was taken to a hospital.
Lawyers for the three defendants said they were disappointed and disagreed with the verdict, which they plan to appeal. The defendants are slated to be sentenced Nov. 18.
The charges each carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison, though the defendants would probably face only a fraction of that punishment under sentencing guidelines.
“Obviously we’re going to continue fighting,” said Stellio Sinnis, one of O’Brien’s lawyers, “and we’re confident that at the end of this process we’re going to come out on top.”
One of the jurors, who asked for anonymity because of the publicity attached to the case, said the 12-member panel had been thorough in its deliberations.
See: Diligent Jury Done With Probation Trial
The basis for a dismissal?
The juror said the panel found that political patronage was widespread in government, and that it occurred even before O’Brien’s tenure. He said O’Brien committed a crime, however, by violating the department’s hiring procedures.
“There were steps in place that made it [a crime],” he said. “These things have been going on a long time. Hopefully there’s going to be some major changes. I think it’s a wake-up to our government in general.”
Saying he felt “a lot of emotions right now,’’ the juror added: “We looked at every bit of evidence, and we were strong.”
I want to thank you for your service.
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The federal prosecution was based in large part on a 2010 Boston Globe Spotlight series that exposed widespread patronage hiring in the Probation Department, which oversees defendants facing charges in a criminal court and mediates disputes in family courts.
Prosecutors say O’Brien and his deputies doled out jobs to the friends of state legislators over more qualified candidates. In return, prosecutors alleged, the legislators routinely boosted the Probation Department budget, turning it into a sprawling agency where more patronage jobs would be available. The legislators also allegedly passed measures that helped preserve O’Brien’s control over hiring.
Prosecutors said the jobs were “political currency,” enabling O’Brien to build his political clout as head of an agency where the legislators could find employment for friends, relatives, and supporters.
Over 35 days of testimony, defense attorneys argued that there was nothing illegal with what they described as political patronage typical of Beacon Hill. They pointed out that the judges who were critical of O’Brien had themselves been sponsored by politicians and in turn handed out jobs to the politically connected....
Multiple witnesses told jurors that O’Brien gave greater weight to the recommendations of more powerful legislators, such as House Speaker Robert DeLeo, former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, and Senate President Therese Murray. State Representative Thomas Petrolati of Ludlow, a former member of DeLeo’s leadership team, controlled hiring in the western part of the state, according to witnesses....
DeLeo, who was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee at the time, issued a statement Thursday saying the verdict showed that there was no agreement for a bribe between O’Brien and any legislator. However, the statement did not address testimony alleging that DeLeo offered eight jobs to legislators while he headed a committee that oversaw state spending.
In a statement, Governor Deval Patrick said, “The practices at issue were wrong and undermine public confidence in government.”
He said that he and the Legislature reformed the hiring process in the Probation Department since the scandal was first reported in the Globe.
(Blog editor just shakes his head)
The case hinged in large part on the testimony of Robert A. Mulligan, the former chief justice of the Trial Court system who had to sign off on O’Brien’s hires. Prosecutors alleged that he was duped by O’Brien’s coverup.
Defense lawyers argued that he was well aware of patronage hiring, that he had hired politically connected candidates himself. Mulligan told jurors that he began to question O’Brien’s hires, but had no knowledge of the sophistication of the rigged hiring system.
The federal trial was the second prosecution O’Brien had faced. He had been charged in state court with conspiracy to commit bribery, for allegedly directing Probation Department employees to a campaign fund-raiser for former state treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, in exchange for a job for his wife in the Lottery Commission.
A Suffolk Superior Court found him not guilty of that charge in August 2013.
At one point I would have gone and found past links from my blog to those items, but WhyTF bother? This state has been and is so rank with rot and corruption it's useless.
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Also see:
Jury cracks down hard on Beacon Hill’s corrupt culture
The spectacular collapse of Jack O’Brien
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Gubernatorial candidates tell what they would do to eliminate the patronage practice
Probation saga could be a boon for Charlie Baker
UPDATE: Walsh defends actions by O’Brien
Also see:
Walsh takes Boston Olympic bid to Colorado
Mayor notes progress in tour of animal shelter
Boston Globe Animal Shelter
It really is bye-bye, Boston.
