Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

June 26, 2015

MEDFORD MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN COUNTERFEITTING AND THEFT SCHEME

Here is another tale of an free enterprise gone bad. The gent is from Medford. He is 28 years of age and his name is Casey Kolenda (albeit hereinafter, the “Defendant”).

According to the Boston Herald’s story on the subject, found here, the Defendant has pleaded guilty to making and selling counterfeit Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority passes. In return for his plea of guilt he was sentenced to three years in prison. The specific charges he plead to were seven counts of counterfeiting.

The victory announcement was made by Attorney General Maura Healey, who’s office prosecuted the case.
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June 23, 2015

MAN RECEIVES CWOF IN LOWELL DISTRICT COURT FOR THEFT ANAD RECIEVING STOLEN PROPERTY

by Samuel Goldberg

This is America. The land of the free and of free enterprise.

Well, almost.

28-year-old Thomas W. Romano III (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) has learned that not quite anything goes in commerce. The lesson has been taught to him at Lowell District Court.

According to the Lowell Sun, the Defendant has admitted to taking a big, and lucrative, shortcut by starting his own trash-removal company. The scheme was particularly profitable as it involved the stealing of commercial trash containers throughout the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire, according to the Commonwealth.
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June 18, 2015

SOUTHBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT FALLS VICTIM TO ALLEGED ARSONIST

by Samuel Goldberg

Well, for one thing, I don’t think this is going to help him very much in the lawsuit.

I am referring to 45-year-old Arthur Burnham (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). It would appear that his sense of entertainment is not shared by Southbridge Police Department. Or the law, for that matter.

You see, the Southbridge police say that he was laughing and cheering after he doused a police cruiser with gasoline and set it on fire right outside the police station.

They apparently did not see the humor in it.

June 12, 2015

INSANITY DEFENSE FAILS FOR SOUTH BOSTON CONVICTED MURDERER

by Ian C. Keefe

Jurors in Suffolk Superior Court found Edwin Alemany guilty of first-degree murder and 15 other counts, including premeditated murder, for the killing of Amy Lord. Alemany was also found guilty of attacking two other women before and after killing Lord.

In July of 2013, Alemany kidnapped Lord from outside her South Boston apartment and forced her to withdraw money from several ATM machines. Prosecutors said he then raped her and stabbed her more than 75 times. He then dumped her naked body in Hyde Park and set her car on fire.

June 10, 2015

WORCESTER JURY CONVICTS MILLBURY MAN OF ASSAULT AND BATTERY OF A SEX WORKER

by Samuel Goldberg

Well, the jury came back in Worcester’s trial of The Commonwealth versus Raymond Grenier
(hereinafter, the “Defendant”). The verdict…on the remaining charges…was guilty. Guilty of assaulting a sex worker (prostitute) as well as trespass.

The allegations came from a June 15, 2014 incident in a Sutton cornfield.

According to said sex worker, she was working as a prostitute in the Main South section of Worcester when the Defendant picked her up around 3 a.m. She said he agreed to pay her for oral sex and he drove her to the Sutton cornfield in Sutton.

She testified that, “I told him I wanted my money first … and he wouldn’t give it to me…He said he’d give it to me when he was ready. I said, ‘you’re going to bring me home right now.’ He proceeded to get very angry.” She claimed that the Defendant then punched her on the left side of her head and then punched her again in the ribs. She said he then pushed her out of the truck and she fell onto the ground.
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June 8, 2015

BROCKTON BOY IS SHOT IN DORCHESTER. POLICE DECRY “NO SNITCHING” CODE

by Samuel Goldberg

Ian tells me that he was listening to NPR this morning during his travels when an interesting point was made regarding the ongoing investigation into the recent shooting of a 7-year-old Brockton boy in Dorchester. You can also read about it in the Boston Globe.

Although the young boy has been identified in the media, we will simply refer to him as the “Victim”… a word I seldom use, but I imagine there is no doubt of it in this case.

The Victim is still alive and is in the hospital. He is described as being in good condition.

Police Superintendent in Chief William G. Gross said witnesses described the shooter as a light-skinned man between the ages of approximately 17 and 20 who wore a red hoodie and tan pants, and who fled on foot.
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June 5, 2015

BOSTON MAN IS CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER AFTER SHOOTING MURDER TRIAL

by Samuel Goldberg

Well, the trial of 26-year-old Michael Stallings from Boston (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is over. While it ended in a conviction, the defense is likely counting it as a “win”.

The Defendant was acquitted of the top count, Murder in the First Degree, but convicted on the lesser charges of Involuntary Manslaughter and gun possession.

The facts arose out of a sadly frequent scene we have all heard about. Gang violence. Gang warfare.

The Defendant claims that someone from a rival gang began shooting at him on a street in January 2012. The Defendant fired back into a crowd of people. His spray of bullets did not hit anybody, but obviously caused some folks to flee.

One of said “folks” was Kelvin Rowell. He was 40 years old and at the proverbial “wrong place, wrong time”. No connection to the gang violence.

He did have asthma though.
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June 4, 2015

BOSTON POLICE SPEAK WITH PERSON OF INTERTEST IN TUFTS FRATERNITY STABBING

by Ian C. Keefe

The term “person of interest” has no legal definition, but generally refers to someone who authorities believe has information related to a crime. Although deliberately ambiguous to any suspicion of guilt, you can be assured that if law enforcement labels you a “person of interest” they believe you were some how involved.

June 3, 2015

TWELVE YEAR OLD WITH KIDNAPPING STORY COULD HAVE FACED FELONY CHARGES IN MASSACHUSETS

by Samuel Goldberg

Maybe it’s because it is the “Live Free Or Die” state. Perhaps “living free” is interpreted as “lying about being free” in New Hampshire.

Maybe. But not here though.

Here it could have been a felony.

According to authorities in Nashua, New Hampshire, a twelve-year-old boy was worried because he thought he might get into trouble for being late.

That part’s ok. It’s his solution which could have been the problem in the Commonwealth.

He lied.

He lied to law enforcement.
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June 1, 2015

STOP OF BUS FULL OF PASSENGERS RESULTS IN SUPPRESSION OF DRUGS IN BOSTON’S SUPERIOR COURT

by Samuel Goldberg

It is not a legal decision that is etched into the proverbial stone (if any are). It is not a decision by either the SJC or the United States Supreme Court.

It is a decision from Superior Court. It, though, seem consistent with the case about which Ian discussed with you last week. This case was not one of ours, though. I was just asked to comment on it by Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly for last week’s issue.

The facts of the case come from an interstate bus arriving at Boston’s South Station on July 14, 2014. This bus came from New York. Gregory Luperon (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was a passenger on that bus.

The bus was greeted by four MBTA officers were at the dock waiting to conduct a random drug interdiction. While three officers waited outside, Detective Richard Sullivan boarded the bus and announced to the passengers that the vehicle had been selected for a narcotics check and that they would need to remain on the bus while luggage was unloaded from the hold for police dogs to conduct an open-air sniff.