Vitale (l) & DiMasi (r)
Posted on 06/02/2009 3:08:07 PM PDT by csvset
Former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and three Beacon Hill power brokers have been indicted on corruption charges in connection with a State House scandal involving lucrative software contracts, the U.S. attorney announced today.
DiMasi, his former accountant Richard Vitale, lobbyist Richard McDonough and software broker Joseph Lally have all been charged, according to a federal indictment.
All four were released this afternoon on $10,000 bail each, but they will only have to pay if they skip any court hearings. All are due back in federal court in Boston Monday.
The co-defendants were also ordered to hand over their passports and told to remain in the continental U.S., but DiMasi was granted permission to travel to Hawaii “on business,” his lawyer successfully argued late today before Judge Magistrate Robert Collings.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael K. Loucks said at a press conference today that DiMasi, 64, is charged with conspiracy, honest services mail fraud, aiding and abetting and honest services wire fraud. The head of the Boston FBI, Warren T. Bamford, also announced the corruption charges linked to two software contracts - one for $5.2 million and another for $15 million.
Loucks said all the charges are hooked to deals with Cognos ULC. The 32-page indictment obtained by the Herald states the Canadian software company - with offices in Burlington - was aided by DiMasi and his associates in landing multimillion dollar software deals with the state.
The indictment alleges the former House Speaker - then one of the most powerful politicians in the state - used his “power and influence” to win Cognos the contracts. In return, DiMasi pocketed thousands of dollars funnelled through a law associate - including a $25,000 check from Cognos that “he wanted all of it,” the indictment states.
DiMasi faces five years in prison and three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine if found guilty of the conspiracy charge. He also faces 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine for each of the eight counts of mail and wire fraud, if convicted.
DiMasi denied any wrongdoing today outside the courthouse. His lawyer, Thomas Kiley, said he will not try the case “in the press.”
DiMasi left office Jan. 27 under a cloud of suspicion in connection with a $13 million contract to Cognos, a software company represented by Lally, 48, and McDonough, 64. McDonough and Vitale, 64, each were paid hundreds of thousands by Lally after the state awarded the Cognos deal.
DiMasi has denied any wrongdoing and has said he had no role in the awarding of the Cognos contract. Former aides to DiMasi did not immediately return calls.
Thomas Dreschler, attorney to Richard McDonough, lobbyist for Cognos, said his client would plead not guilty.
“He was performing as a lobbyist is supposed to perform. Did he advocate for his client? Yes. That’s what he was paid for,” he added.
Vitale has already been indicted for lobbying and campaign finance violations.
The Herald has also learned that House Counsel Lou Rizoli - DiMasi’s top attorney during his reign - told top Democrats on Beacon Hill today that he will step down, effective at the end of the month.
Attorney Martin Weinberg, who represents Vitale, declined comment when reached this afternoon.
The scandals rocked Beacon Hill when DiMasi left office but have continued to reverberate throughout the marble halls as top lawmakers, staffers and even aides to Gov. Deval Patrick have been hauled before investigators.
George Regan, spokesman for Vitale, said his client did not register as a lobbyist on the advice of lawyers who told him it was not required. Regan said there’s a difference between a legislative consultant empowered to petition the government and a lobbyist.
“Dick Vitale is not a criminal. He’s an ethical business person who followed state law,“ Regan said. “We’re confident he’ll be acquitted of these charges.”
Edward Mason and Joe Dwinell contributed. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1176358
Vitale (l) & DiMasi (r)
All Republicans, right?
Salvatore F. “Sal” DiMasi (born 1945) was a state politician in Massachusetts. The former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives originally joined the state legislature in 1979, as a member of the Democratic Party. He eventually resigned from this post in January of 2009, just six months prior to being indicted on several Federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the federal government, mail fraud and wire fraud.
The paper always leaves out the “Democrat” label?
With Massachusetts, I think you can safely assume the (D) regardless. I don’t know that there are more than one or two (R)s in the whole legislature.
I’m from MA — and I just keep wondering who he crossed to get into this mess. As for what he did, well — I thought that was how business is done in MA . . .
Heeheeeeeeeheeeeeeeeee! couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy! LOL! When will this nonsense stop??
Federal investigation In August 2007, the Boston State Information Technology division awarded Cognos a $13 million dollar contract for performance management software. This followed a 2006 $4.5 million dollar state contract awarded to Cognos by the Massachusetts State Department of Education.
These contracts came under scrutiny from the State Ethics Commission and the office of state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan when several conflicts of interest surrounding State Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and his accountant Richard Vitale came to light.
In the course of these investigations, a payoff from former Cognos sales executive Joseph Lally in the amount of $600,000 was found to have been made to Vitale's company WN Advisors. Vitale and WN Advisors were not registered as state lobbyists and did not disclose the payments, the bulk of which were apparently made on the same day that the state wired funds for the multimillion dollar contracts to Cognos.
The disposition of the funds has not been disclosed and the State has rescinded the contracts. IBM, which did not own Cognos when these contracts went into place, has refunded all paid monies and is cooperating with the state investigations.
A second close associate of DiMasi's, lawyer Steven Topazio, was placed on a two year $5,000 a month retainer for unspecified purposes. This retainer stopped the same month as the second Cognos contract was awarded.[4]
In addition to the payoffs made to close associates of DiMasi, it is known that Vitale helped arrange a below-market mortgage for DiMasi, which violated state Ethics laws.
On December 17, 2008, the Boston Globe confirmed that the State investigations were being joined by a Federal Grand Jury probe investigating the allegations and potential violations of Federal law.
As usaul i am so proud of my State and so happy hat i can’t move out at the moment.
the amout of corruption in my state and the local governments is outrageous.
In Massachusetts, it's pretty much unnecessary. There are currently no Republicans (zero) in statewide offices, and the legislature is over 90% Democrat.
DiMasi,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,TOO BIG TO FAIL, nothing will happen to him........
LOL! I guess that kind of thing doesn't violate federal ethics laws (if there is such a thing), explaining why Chris Dodd and Barney Frank are still at large . . .
It seems if we got rid of the corrupt Italian politicians and the corrupt Irish politicians here in Massghanistan, there would be no one left in the legislature. Sounds like paradise to me.
Post that pic of Slick Willard laughing it up with his good buddies Ted Kennedy and Sally DiMasi, would ya ? ;-)
“I just keep wondering who he crossed to get into this mess.”
Sal didn’t support Deval’s casinos. At the 2008 St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast, Deval sang to Sal about it.
http://fr.truveo.com/-your-desk-paddys-day-bfast-brookline-fire/id/3271503027
I’d forgotten about that!
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