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A Boston firefighter was apprehended by police on Friday for allegedly purchasing OxyContin from a drug dealer that had been under police surveillance. Firefighter and Dorchester resident William Boyle has been ordered to appear in District Court for the alleged possession of a Class B substance.

Boston police say that a District-C Drug Control Unit Detective saw Boyle make the alleged deal with drug dealer Stephen Puglielli at the Broadway MBTA station. Boyle allegedly called out to the approaching detective, “I didn’t do anything, I am a Boston fireman.”

Police say that he dropped a cellophane wrapper with 5 OxyContin pills, But Boyle alleges that they planted the evidence. At the Boston police station, officers allege that Boyle told them that he bought the pills for $200.

Boyle has served as firefighter with the Boston Fire Department for over 10 years and is also a Vietnam veteran. He has been on injury leave.

Puglielli, a well-known drug dealer and a Southie resident, has been arrested for allegedly dealing drugs. His arraignment is schedule for today. Puglielli is a repeat drug offender.

Boston firefighter in Oxycontin sting, Boston Herald, April 28, 2008
Disabled firefighter accused in drug buy, Boston.com, April 28, 2008

Related Web Resources:

OxyContin, DEA

The Massachusetts OxyContin and Other Drug Abuse Commission
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In Boston, Charles A. Manghis, has been charged with multiple counts of smuggling sperm whale teeth and elephant ivory, making false statements to federal agents, and conspiracy.

The 53-year-old Nantucket, Massachusetts resident, also a Ukrainian national, was arrested on Thursday. A federal grand jury indicted Manghis, along with Ukrainian national Andriy Mkhalyov, of allegedly conspiring to smuggle certain items into the United States that violated both federal law and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The two men allegedly used a middleman in California to bring the items into the United States before sending them to Massachusetts. Manghis, a scrimshaw dealer, is being accused of selling the illegal items on Nantucket and on e-Bay. His employer, Nina Hellman of Nina Hellman Antiques, says she believes the charges against Manghis are unfounded.

Nantucket Police say that that the international smuggling ring also involves countries in Asia and Europe. Manghis faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 maximum fine if he is convicted. He was released on $25,000 bond.

According to Law Enforcement US Fish and Wildlife Service Chief Benito A. Perez, about $10 million in illegal wildlife is seized in the United States every year-barely scratching the “surface of wildlife coming into this country.” The country is a prime market for elephant ivory, ivory carvings, and handicrafts made with claws, fur, feather, claws, and other body parts of species that are protected by law.

Nantucket man faces smuggling charges, Boston.com, April 25, 2008
Nantucket man charged in ivory smuggling ring, Ack.net, April 25, 2008
Testimony of Benito A. Perez Before the US House of Representatives, FWS.gov, March 5, 2008
Related Web Resources:

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

Charles A. Manghis

Charles Manghis Scrimshaw, Nina Hellman Antiques Continue reading

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The Gloucester woman charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and failure to stay in a marked lane when her car struck the SUV carrying movie star Sandra Bullock has pled not guilty.

Lucile P. Gatchell entered her not guilty plea during her arraignment today in Gloucester District Court. She was released without bail.

No one was injured in the Massachusetts car accident, which occurred on Friday. Bullock had just finished filming a scene from her latest movie “The Proposal” in Rockport before the accident happened. The actress, her husband Jessie James, and the driver of their sport utility vehicle were not injured in the auto collision.

According to the police report, Gatchell failed four field sobriety tests and her blood alcohol level registered over twice the legal limit at 2.0. Kevin Mackey, the arresting police officer, reported smelling alcohol on the 64-year-old woman’s breath. He also said that she slurred her speech and her eyes were glassy and bloodshot.

If you have been arrested or charged with operating your vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, one of our Boston, Massachusetts OUI/DWI/DUI attorneys would be happy to discuss your case with you.

Our Gloucester drunk driving lawyers know how to determine the accuracy of your field sobriety test or whether law enforcement officers followed the proper procedures when apprehending you for allegedly driving drunk. There may be a number of reasons why the evidence that police have against you is inadmissible.

If you plead or are found guilty for drunk driving in Massachusetts, this will be noted on your driving record permanently. This could affect your driving privileges even if you live in another state.

Woman pleads not guilty to drunken driving in accident with Sandra Bullock, Boston.com, April 22, 2008
Actress Bullock unharmed in Gloucester car crash, Boston.com, April 19, 2008

Related Web Resources:

DUI & DWI, DMV.Org
Massachusetts Laws About Drunk Driving, Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries Continue reading

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In Massachusetts, Robert J. Shea, a basketball coach and custodian at Everett Middle School has been charged with two counts of rape and three counts of indecent assault and battery involving a 12-year-old boy. He has pled not guilty to the charges.

Shea’s arrest on April 6 and the subsequent charges announced on April 7 came a few days after the boy’s mother reported him to police. Prosecutors claim that Shea sexually abused the boy for six months and the abuse incidents occurred in the 57-year-old’s house and at Everett High School.

Shea, an Everett School Department employee for 25 years and a junior varsity basketball coach for 14 years, has expressed shock at the charges. His Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer says that Shea only acted as the boy’s friend and older brother and that this is the first allegation against him after working around children for years.

Everett schools superintendent Frederick F. Foresteire says that this is not the first time that Shea has been investigated. He was investigated by the Everett Police Department in 2005 and the Department of Social Services in 2003. Both cases were closed without findings. Shea has been suspended from his job until the Everett sex crimes case is resolved.

Child rape is considered a very serious offense. The issue of child rape has been in the news headlines lately. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether a child rape conviction should lead to the death penalty. The case was brought to the Supreme Court by Patrick Kennedy, a Louisiana man that was sentenced to death after being convicted of raping the 8-year-old daughter of his girlfriend. He is appealing his sentence.

US high court mulls death for child rape, AP, April 17, 2008
Everett schools employee accused of sexually assaulting boy, Boston Globe, April 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Sexual Assault and Rape, Norfolk District Attorney’s Office
Rape a child, pay with your life, Louisiana argues, CNN.com, April 15, 2008 Continue reading

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Richard “Pops” Picardi Sr, a 76-year-old Revere, Massachusetts resident, has pled not guilty to charges that include unlawful distribution of a Class B substance, selling cigarettes without state tax stamps, receiving stolen property, and violating drug laws in a school zone.

A person can be charged with violating drug laws in a school zone if the drug-related crime he or she is accused of committing took place within 100 feet of a playground or park or within 1000 feet of a school or school property. Because so many cities in Massachusetts are well populated, it is very hard for someone not to be within a school zone.

Picardi is accused of dealing prescription drugs from the office of the Square Cab Co. in Chelsea in exchange for cigarettes and money. The company is located within 1,000 feet of Clark Avenue School. His arraignment took place in Chelsea District Court, and he was ordered held on $10,000 bail.

Undercover cops bought OxyContin and other narcotics from Picardi several times in March. One buy involved three OxyContin tablets in exchange for eight packs of cigarettes and $40. He also is accused of selling cigarettes illegally.

Picardi had more than $11,000 on him last week when he was arrested. Law enforcement officers also found almost two full cartons of cigarettes, 74 Roxicet pills, 21 razor packs, and 5 unopened cologne bottles that may have been stolen.

One-legged 76-year-old busted in drug sting, The Boston Herald, April 15, 2008
Man, 76, held in drug case linked to Chelsea cab firm, Boston Globe, April 15, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Drug Fact Sheet, Friends of Narconon

The Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts
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Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and a former aide have been charged with lying under oath about the nature of their relationship. Last week, Kilpatrick and Kristine Beatty, his former chief of staff, pled not guilty to multiple counts of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office during their arraignment.

The charges were filed following a nearly two month probe after excerpts of some 14,000 text messages between the two of them were published by the Detroit Free Press. The text messages had either been sent or received by Beatty’s city-issued pager between 2002 and 2003 and included sexually explicit dialogue, plans to meet, and exchanges about ways they could conceal their extramarital affair.

Last year, while under oath, Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having an affair. They had given this testimony during a lawsuit filed by two police officers who had sued the city of Detroit.

The two cops said they were fired from their jobs because they had been investigating claims that Kilpatrick had used his security team to cover up the fact that he had extramarital affairs. Both Kilpatrick and Beatty are married with children.

The city of Detroit settled the charges filed by the two men and a third police officer for $8.4 million. Kilpatrick and Beatty are accused of signing an agreement to keep the text messages confidential and the mayor is accused of agreeing to the settlement to cover up his affair with Beatty.

All of the criminal charges filed against Mayor Kilpatrick are considered felonies in Michigan. He will be fired immediately if he is convicted of a felony. The conviction for perjury alone could result in 15 years in prison.

Michigan Attorney Mike Cok and the Detroit City Council have called on Kilpatrick to step down. He is refusing to do so.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says other people may be charged as the investigation progresses.

In Massachusetts, perjury is considered a serious crime. Under the General Laws of Massachusetts, Chapter 268, Section 1:

Whoever, being lawfully required to depose the truth in a judicial proceeding or in a proceeding in a course of justice, wilfully swears or affirms falsely in a matter material to the issue or point in question, or whoever, being required by law to take an oath or affirmation, wilfully swears or affirms falsely in a matter relative to which such oath or affirmation is required, shall be guilty of perjury. Whoever commits perjury on the trial of an indictment for a capital crime shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years, and whoever commits perjury in any other case shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in jail for not more than two and one half years, or by both such fine and imprisonment in jail.

Defining perjury in Kilpatrick case: Judge the facts for yours, Freep.com, March 30, 2008
Detroit mayor, ex-aide plead not guilty, USA Today, March 26, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Charges Against Kwame M. Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty (PDF)

Detroit Mayor’s Office
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Five days after her release from prison, former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sarah Jane Olson was rearrested and sent back to prison on Saturday to serve one more year of her sentence. Prison department staff had concluded that a mistake had been made in figuring out when the ex-SLA member was eligible for parole.

Her criminal defense lawyer plans to fight this decision and cites pressure from the Los Angeles police officers’ union, rather than a calculation error, as the reason Olson is back behind bars.

California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the police union reject this accusation.

Olson’s real name is Kathleen Soliah. She was paroled on Monday after serving six years of the sentence that she received for pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of Myrna Opsahl while robbing a bank in Carmichael, California in the 1970’s. She also had entered a guilty plea for trying to bomb LAPD cars. She had planted pipe bombs under the car but the devices didn’t go off.

Olson lived as a fugitive for 24 years. She changed her name, got married, and had three children before she was arrested.

A California judge had initially sentenced Olson to five years and four months in prison because of 1975 sentencing laws. The state parole board, however, determined that she was a serious offender and changed her prison sentence to 13 years.

Olson was supposed to serve her parole in Minnesota with her family but was not permitted to board her flight from Los Angeles International Airport. After the error was identified, she was sent back to Chowchilla women’s prison.

According to prison officials, they forgot to add more time for the bank robbery and Carmichael’s murder, which now makes her eligible for parole after seven years instead of six.

SLA’s Olson will fight return to state prison, SFGate.com, March 24, 2008
Ex-SLA member rearrested after release, MercuryNews.com, March 23, 2008

Related Web Resources:

The Symbionese Liberation Army, CourtTV.com
Sara Jane Olson on Life in Prison, Talkleft.com Continue reading

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Heather Lyn Johnston and Ashley Nicole Miller, the women who were arrested after robbing a Bank of America branch at a Kroger grocery store in Georgia last year, received their sentences today.

Miller, 19, was ordered to serve 2 years of her 10 year prison sentence, while the remainder must be completed as probation. Johnston, 22, was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Johnston and Miller and Benny Herman Allen, 23, had all pleaded guilty to theft by taking. Miller’s boyfriend, Michael Darrell Chastang, was convicted of theft by taking.

The two women, both strippers at the time, and Chastang decided to rob a bank.

0228073bandits1.jpg

The following day, Chastang called the girls with instructions. He told them that he knew a teller at a B of A branch that could act as their “inside man.” The teller was Benny Herman Allen.

Allen told the women what to include on the demand note, which asked for loose bills and included the statements, “Remember, I will not hesitate to kill you. Keep hands where I can see them. Do not pull switch.”

The two women were videotaped committing the bank robbery. They stole 11,000, which was to be divided among the four of them.

The two girls immediately went shopping at Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square mall for clothes and shoes, got their hair done at Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans, and bought a television at a Wal-Mart.

They were arrested two days after the robbery.

Johnson also pled guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge, while Miller also pled guilty to possession of Ecstasy with intent to distribute.

‘Barbie Bandit’ is sentenced to 10 years in prison for a bank heist, International Herald Tribune, March 24, 2008
The Fall of the “Barbie Bandits,” ABC News, March 24, 2008
The Barbie Bandits saga winds down, AJC.com, March 24, 2008

Related Web Resource:

The General Laws of Massachusetts
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In Massachusetts on Friday, East Boston District Court Judge Paul Mahoney refused to drop the possession of a hoax device charge against Star Simpson, the 19-year-old MIT student who wore a strapped circuit board to her chest and walked into Logan International Airport last year.

Simpson’s trial begins on May 23, and she plans to take the stand. Simpson is expected to say that the week prior to her arrest, she wore the blinking circuit board around campus, which she considered a “piece of art” that she wanted to show off.

On September 21, 2007, she wore the battery-operated light display to the airport and was planning to pick up her boyfriend at Logan’s Terminal C. A number of employees fled the premise because they thought the device was a bomb. State police arrested her at gunpoint.

The Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit examined the device and determined that it was not an explosive.

Other MIT students have said that wearing this kind of device on campus is not uncommon. Called a “breadboard,” it is worn by students that are making something electronic.

Simpson has called herself a student, artist, and engineer.

Her criminal defense team says that the charge violates her freedom of speech and that she never planned on frightening anyone by wearing the blinking circuit.

The General Laws of Massachusetts
Chapter 266: CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY Section 102A1/2. Possession, transportation, use or placement of hoax devices; penalty; law enforcement or public safety officer exemption
Section 102A1/2. (a) Whoever possesses, transports, uses or places or causes another to knowingly or unknowingly possess, transport, use or place any hoax device or hoax substance with the intent to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort to any person or group of persons shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Simpson’s criminal defense attorney had sought to have the charge against her dismissed because he said the statute is too vague. Her case has been continued a number of times.

Judge refuses to drop hoax charge against MIT student, Boston.com, March 21, 2008
Simpson asks charge to be dropped, The Daily Free Press, November 6, 2007
Student Says She Was Wearing ‘Art,’ Not Bomb, TheBostonChannel.com, September 21, 2007

Related Web Resources:

The General Laws of Massachusetts

Breadboard
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In Massachusetts, David J. Privette, the man accused of using cigarettes to burn the genitals of a 7-year-old boy, has now been charged by Middleborough police with two counts of indecent assault and battery and mayhem. The child, who is the son of Privette’s girlfriend, may be permanently injured from the repeated burns.
Privette, 22, also allegedly beat the boy with a belt and urinated on his head.

Privette has denied the allegations. The charges that had initially been filed against him were two counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon and assault and battery on a child.

DSS officials had been aware of neglect occurring to the boy as early as 2002 and had been to the boy’s home four times since the boy’s school filed a physical abuse report on December 19.

They did not inform police until this week-after a nurse at the boy’s school found burn marks on his pelvis, genitals, and buttocks.

Privette began dating the boy’s mother, Michelle Henry, several months ago.

A nurse at the boy’s school had called the DSS in December and case workers spoke to the boy’s family. The school called the DSS on March after the boy told a teacher that he didn’t want to go home because Privette had burned his private parts with a cigarette.

The DSS finally contacted the Plymouth district attorney’s office after the nurse at the boy’s school filed a third report that the boy was being abused.

Privette says he was not at the boy’s home when the abuse took place.

Police file new charges in Middleborough child abuse case, Boston.com, March 20, 2008
New charges against man accused of burning boy with cigarettes, BostonHerald.com, March 20, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Massachusetts General Laws
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