Trapasso and Doucette
Posted on 02/11/2007 7:43:56 AM PST by raccoonradio
The hack du jour is Larry Trapasso, a Worcester election commissioner and former $77,000-a-year executive assistant to State Auditor Joe DeNucci.
Translation: He was DeNucci’s back-up driver and go-to guy in Worcester.
Here are the headlines of some of the stories last week in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette about Trapasso: “Bribery investigation . . . Corruption flap flares unabated . . . Probation orders at heart of probe.”
Trapasso was on DeNucci’s payroll for nine years, but this time the 67-year-old auditor managed to stay ahead of the corruption curve, firing Trapasso May 17. In a brief interview Friday, DeNucci would only say, “Whatever he is accused of, it has nothing to do with the auditor’s office.”
Privately, DeNuch is telling people he is not just aggravated, he is “bleepin’ aggravated” at “the kid,” who is 45. One source of Joe’s bleepin aggravation: Trapasso allegedly dropped DeNucci’s name at least once to the convicted drunken-driving killer who is making the charges.
The bomb-tosser is Keith Doucette of Charlton, who was convicted in 1998 of OUI and manslaughter in Oxford. He was doing 70 mph in his pickup truck when he crossed lanes on Route 20, slamming into a minivan and killing a 39-year-old Southbridge driver, paralyzing the dead man’s son and injuring two other members of the same family.
Doucette, whose lawyer says he has been diagnosed with - you guessed it - ADHD, wasn’t supposed to drive for seven years after he got out of prison in 2002.
But now, in court documents, Doucette alleges he paid Trapasso $6,000 to get him his driver’s license back in 2004. Soon thereafter, Doucette was issued the license he wasn’t supposed to have.
He was pulled over again, and has now been sentenced to nine to 12 years for probation violations. He has hired a new lawyer who is furiously filing motions, claiming Doucette was, basically, victimized by Trapasso and others.
Mentioned in the court documents is a freshman state rep who was Doucette’s probation officer. That would be Rep. Geraldo Alicea of Charlton. Doucette alleges that the local statesman “knew of the scheme but did nothing,” as the Worcester paper puts it.
Alicea did not return a call seeking comment Friday, but right now you would have to say he’s the early front-runner for Rookie Solon of the Year. To be mixed up in a scandal in your very first month in office - Tom Finneran would be very proud of this lad.
This brings us back to DeNucci’s bleepin’ aggravation. Joe this week learned that Trapasso supposedly offered to introduce Doucette to both the auditor and the state probation commissioner at a charity dinner, although the meeting never occurred.
In the recent past, DeNucci has had problems with his work force. Remember the Hells Angel from Lynn on his payroll who allegedly stomped an off-duty cop in a barroom? And the gangster’s wife who was eventually indicted herself?
This time, the old boxer moved fast.
See, when you drive for somebody, whether it’s a pol or anybody else, the first rule is to be on time. For 77 large a year, this should not be a problem.
But Trapasso was habitually late. DeNucci would call him and Trapasso would say, “I’m right around the corner, Joe. Ill be there in a half an hour.” “Half an hour?” DeNucci would say. “I thought you were around the corner.”
An hour and a half later, Trapasso would pull up. Very quickly, Trapasso was on the outs. Plus, stories about his deals in Worcester began to trickle back to Boston. He and his wife have been sued by several creditors, including the trustee of a bankrupt plastics company in Lunenburg that paid Trapasso $208,193 at the time he was on DeNucci’s payroll. Trapasso did not return a call Friday.
On Friday, a judge in Worcester dismissed Doucette’s motion for a reconsideration of his sentence, but a grand jury continues to sit in Boston, trying to sort it all out.
And Joe DeNucci is aggravated. Bleepin’ aggravated.
Not for nuttin' is this a Howie Carr column ping
"Someday, I'll come to you, and ask you for a favor..."
"Forget about it!"
And, of course, "an offer he can't refuse."
It's gotta be...
Massachusetts, where the number one industry is taxes.
Trapasso and Doucette
DaNuch's political viability depends on staying under the radar. Hes' made a career out of being invisible.
No one beats Howie... when it comes to shining the flashlight on the cockroaches at Beacon Hill.
Bingo,,,,,we have a winner.....Howie is THE MAN!
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