Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

September 28, 2008

Massachusetts Judge Suspends Half of Prison Sentence After Danvers Teen Pleads Guilty to Midsdemeanor Vehicular Homicide for Head-On Crash That Killed Elderly Peabody Woman

In Massachusetts, Buck Bishop, the then-18-year-old Danvers teenager who fatally struck 73-year-old Peabody resident Joyce Oliver and injured a Boston-area couple while driving to a methadone clinic last year, has been ordered to serve a 15-month-prison sentence.

Last week, Bishop pleaded guilty to misdemeanor vehicular homicide. He admitted that he crossed the center line and struck the two vehicles carrying the three victims while driving on Route 1 close to the Topsfield-Danvers line on November 16, 2007.

Bishop had previously told police that he blacked out at the wheel and did not remember anything about the accident. According to a drug recognition expert called in by police, the teenager was not driving under the influence of drugs when the accident occurred. Bishop, however, admitted to using cocaine two days prior to the crash.

Prosecutors had pushed to have Bishop serve a full 2 ½ year jail sentence, which is the maximum sentence for his crime. They noted that he had violated the terms of his release on more than one occasion when he tested positive for narcotics and failed to meet with his probation officer earlier this year. As a result, Bishop has been in police custody and held without bail since then.

Judge Robert Cornetta sentenced Bishop to the full-term but suspended half of the time at the request of Bishop’s Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer. Bishop will also serve probation for 10 years and his license has been revoked for 15 years. Bishop, who received credit for the 111 days that he spent in police custody, could be eligible for parole in four months.

If you face criminal charges for a motor vehicle accident in the greater Boston area or anywhere in Massachusetts, you are entitled to the best criminal defense available to you.

Man gets 15 months in crash that killed elderly Peabody woman, The Salem News, September 26, 2008
Teen changes mind about plea in fatal crash, The Salem News, July 8, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Massachusetts General Laws
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September 26, 2008

Massachusetts Assault Defendant Goes Criminal Justice AWOL

by Altman & Altman

Almost everyone necessary showed up in the Hampden Superior Court in Springfield the other day. The jury was ready for the reading of the verdict. Judge McDonald was there. Assistant District Attorney Morse was in the courtroom. Defense attorney Stamm was sitting, albeit lonely, at her seat. Only one thing was missing.

38 year old Gerry H, also known as the Defendant, was gone.

He had been present for the trial, final arguments and instructions to the jury. Perhaps not coincidently that means he was the there to hear that he was facing a 20-year minimum mandatory sentence. His faith in the outcome was apparently justified…the jury found him guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, home invasion and threat to commit a crime.

September 25, 2008

Insurance Fraud And Other White Collar Crime Alleged In Salem, Massachussets

by Altman & Altman

Yesterday’s Salem News told of 31 year old Peabody resident Tyler P. According to prosecutors, he is an enterprising young man with a taste for some of the nicer things in life. Unfortunately, they also claim that his methods of financing such things were not so nice. So they went out and got him something they knew he had not already gotten for himself. They got it from the local grand jury. You guessed it, it’s a brand new indictment.

Mr. P. now faces a multi-count indictment alleging four counts of felony larceny, three counts of insurance fraud, three counts of filing a false police report, forgery, attempted larceny and uttering a forged instrument.

Mr. P. first came to the attention of insurance company investigators last spring after a series of claims raised red flags at Arbella Mutual, the company that insured his car. A year earlier, in July 2007, he had added rental car coverage to his auto insurance policy. An hour after adding the coverage, he called again to say he had been involved in an accident. While the car was waiting to be repaired, prosecutors in the attorney general’s office allege, he filed a false police report with the Beverly police, claiming that his car had been vandalized and reported the vandalism to Arbella.

September 24, 2008

US Senate Passes Bill that Would Update Cyber Crime Laws

by Altman & Altman

The US Senate has passed a bill that would update the country’s laws related to cyber crimes. The legislation, known as the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act is tougher on cyber criminals and gives victims of identity theft an opportunity to sue for damages.

The Bill Proposes:

• Making it a felony to install keystroke-monitoring programs or spyware on 10 or more computers regardless of damage. This is a major change, since many cases of cyber crime involve thousands of computers at less then $5,000 in damages per victim.

• Allowing federal courts to prosecute cyber crime defendants within their states of residence, rather than only if they used interstate communication to commit a cyber crime against a victim.

• Making it a crime to extort companies using cyber technology.

• Giving victims of identity theft the opportunity to obtain restitution for time and money lost in their efforts to recover from the cyber crime.

In Massachusetts, if you have been arrested for a cyber crime, it is important that you seek the counsel of a defense attorney that will know how to defend you against any charges.

Examples of cyber crimes:

• Internet fraud • Cyber stalking • Internet porn • Identity theft • Internet gambling • Computer fraud • Sexual solicitation via the Internet • Computer hacking • Planting Internet viruses
Senate Approves Bill to Fight Cyber-Crime, WashingtonPost.com, July 31, 2008
S. 2168: Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007, Govtrack.com
Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section, Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section, USDoj.gov Continue reading

September 23, 2008

Sex For Money For Drugs Drama Has Its Final Act This Friday In Springfield, Massachusetts

by Altman & Altman

Last Wednesday, a Hampden Superior Court jury returned with a verdict in a case of alleged unarmed robbery of a person 60 years old or older.

The cast of this particular drama included two defendants. They were Aretha Hallums, 40, and Donald Alford, 55. Cast in the role of victim was the elder Edward Foster, formerly of Springfield. The scene of the facts at issue was outside the Bay Street Social Club at Bay and Catherine streets, apparently an unlicensed bar.

Particularly helpful for the jury, I would imagine, was that both defendants testified in their own behalf…each contradicting the other.

September 22, 2008

Fruitlands Museum Files Complaint In Worcester, Massachusetts, Claiming A Family Of Bad Apples Embezzled Over One Million Dollars

by Altman & Altman

Did you have a nice weekend? A few Museum Patrons in Hollis, New Hampshire didn’t. According to Friday’s news, a lawsuit has been filed against in Worcester Superior Court that is likely only the tip of the legal iceberg of their problems.

Fruitlands Museum has filed a lawsuit against former chief operating officer Peggy Kempton and her children for allegedly embezzling more than $1 million during the past eight years. Also named in the legal action is a Leominster accounting firm that allegedly did not notify museum officials about the alleged fraud.

The Complaint, filed Tuesday, accuses Peggy Kempton, Fruitlands’ former chief operating officer, and her children, of obtaining money and property by false pretenses, and converting or misappropriating Fruitlands’ assets. Ms. Kempton, who leased a cottage owned by Fruitlands at 144 Prospect Hill Road, next to the museum since October 1999, for $1,400 a month, is also accused of failing to pay rent. The lawsuit further accuses Solar & Kilcoyne, an accounting firm in Leominster, Massachusetts, of negligence and failing to alert anyone on the nonprofit museum’s board of directors about the alleged financial irregularities.

September 19, 2008

Threats Made At A Massachusetts College Result In Investigation And Arrest

by Altman & Altman

Last February, it would appear that the political scene at Bridgewater State College got a bit heated. Bomb and death threats began being posted around campus. On September 2nd, 2008, as the country’s major parties were celebrating their conventions, a former Parliamentarian was being arrested for her alternative methods of announcing her platform.

Former Student Michelle Fortune, 47, of East Bridgewater, had held the post of Parliamentarian, which is a high ranking position within a campus leadership organization called the “Student Government Association”. She was arrested at her home on six counts of threats to kill, six counts of vandalism, six counts of making a bomb threat, disturbing the peace, and creating a disturbance at a school. Unfortunately, political fever being what it is, the arrest did not go terribly smoothly and she was subsequently charged with resisting arrest.

The threats made on February 26th and 27th came in the form of six messages handwritten on several bathroom walls around the BSC campus. February 28, 2008 was specified as the date attacks would occur. Investigators employed the services of a handwriting expert in hopes of cracking the case. According to Chief Tillinghast of the BSC Police Department, “more handwriting samples were needed so a search warrant was obtained. BSC Police executed the search and seized numerous documents from the suspect’s home. The suspect was found to be responsible.”

September 18, 2008

Haverhill, Massachusetts, Police Officers Get Lucky At Prostitution Bust And Turn To Drug War

by Altman & Altman

Last night, all major crimes of the area having apparently been prevented or solved, Haverhill police officers set their sights on their admittedly decreasing prostitution concern. It was said to be a lucky break in their war against drugs.

They ended up arresting a “major cocaine dealer” who had a drug sales ledger containing the names of “prominent” Haverhill residents. The ledger, according to the police, will kick off an investigation that could lead to a series of arrests.

Christos Eleftheriou, 45, of Haverhill, was arrested at 8:11 p.m. after he propositioned a woman police officer for sex during the prostitution sting, said police spokesman Sgt. John Arahovites. He was charged with sexual conduct for a fee and brought to the police station, where police found 16 grams of powdered cocaine in five bags on him with a street value of $16,200, along with $340 in cash, Sgt. Arahovites said.

September 17, 2008

Arrest Warrant Inspires Massachusetts Driver To Make As Many Mistakes As Possible During Traffic Stop

by Altman & Altman

Some people have not been taking this blog to heart and so apparently did not believe that it was not good to take a bad situation with law enforcement and make it worse. Now, 19-year-old Falmouth resident, Tevis Yarmala, faces multiple charges after he allegedly struck and tried to stab a Falmouth police officer in the face with a stick during a traffic stop last week.

Mr. Yarmala is alleged to have run a red light. First strike. Observing this, Patrolman Christopher Bartolomei , according to police reports, pulled the vehicle over. Mr. Yarmala is said to have greeted the officer by name. Second strike. When the patrolman “detected” the odor of burnt marijuana and asked about it, Mr. Yarmala admitted to smoking marijuana at a friend’s house. Third strike.

In this particular game…not out yet.

September 16, 2008

14-Year-Old Massachusetts Teen is Convicted of Setting Nine Nine-Alarm Fire at Holyoke Paper Mill

by Altman & Altman

In Holyoke, a 14-year-old boy was convicted of starting the 9-alarm fire that burned down the Parsons Paper Mill building earlier this summer. The teenager will be placed in state care until he turns 18. This is the maximum sentence allowed for juveniles in Massachusetts.

According to Holyoke Fire Chief David LaFond, the boy went into the closed paper mill and used cardboard and paper he found there to ignite a fire. It took over 100 firefighters from 19 departments to put out the flames. The Parsons Paper Co. is a 313,000 square foot building that encompassed two city blocks.

Arson
According to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, arson is the malicious and intentional act of burning or trying to burn a home, motor vehicle, public building, airplane, or personal property belonging to someone else.

2004 US Juvenile Arson Statistics say that since 1994:

• Half of all of the suspects arrested for arson were juveniles • 6-8% of juveniles arrested for arson were under 10 years of age.
• According to the National Fire Protection Association’s “Children Playing with Fire,” there were 41,900 reported child experimentation fires.

Reasons experts give for why juveniles start fires include curiosity, entertainment, and to intimidate others.

Arson is considered a very serious crime, and Massachusetts prosecutors will aggressively pursue anyone that is charged with illegally setting a fire that destroys or damages property or vegetation.
Juvenile convicted of starting huge Holyoke fire, BostonHerald.com, August 29, 2008
Investigators say massive Holyoke fire was deliberately set, MassLive.com, June 29, 2008
Juvenile Fire Setting: The Preventable Arson, Iowa Dept of Public Safety

Related Web Resources:
Arson, FBI Continue reading