Sal DiMasi Fraud Rap
Salvatore DiMasi faces fraud rap
Photo by Angela Rowlings
Ex-Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi is facing up to 20 years in prison for allegedly taking kickbacks in yet another State House corruption scandal that has cast a pall over Beacon Hill and sent the onetime iron-fisted leader’s former colleagues scrambling for cover.
DiMasi was hit with fraud and conspiracy charges yesterday in a scathing indictment that painted him as the “coach” of a team of conspirators who cut lucrative deals in backrooms and on golf courses from Boston to Florida, lining his own pocket to the tune of $60,000, federal agents alleged.
Prosecutors said DiMasi used his legislative might to steer $20 million in taxpayer-funded software contracts to Cognos in 2007. In exchange, the Canadian firm funneled payments to an unnamed lawyer in DiMasi’s law office, who in turn cut the then-speaker checks ranging from $4,000 to $25,000, authorities alleged.
At one point during the alleged scheme, DiMasi boasted to a pal, “It’s about time we got business like this,” according to acting U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks.
Also charged yesterday were DiMasi’s friend and former accountant Richard Vitale, Cognos lobbyist Richard McDonough and former Cognos executive Joseph Lally Jr. All four were released on $10,000 surety and are due back in federal court Monday.
DiMasi, who became the third consecutive speaker to land in the defendant’s chair in federal court, had tears in his eyes as he addressed a crush of media outside Moakley Federal Courthouse.
“Every decision that I have ever made as the speaker or as a state representative was always made in the best interests of my constituents and the people of the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” DiMasi said, clutching the hand of his wife, Debbie. He brushed off media questions and left in a black Jaguar driven by his lawyer.
Meanwhile, Speaker Robert DeLeo, a longtime DiMasi ally, and his leadership team went into bunker mode yesterday. They discussed beefing up ethics rules in a bid to rebuild shattered public trust, including giving in to a proposal by Gov. Deval Patrick to ban gifts to politicians and give prosecutors power to tap crooked lawmakers’ phones, sources said.
One lawmaker said news of DiMasi’s indictment “sucked all the air out of the room” during the DeLeo leadership meeting.
DeLeo, who oversaw the key legislative committee that ushered through the Cognos legislation, said he was “saddened and disappointed” by the charges.
His attorney, Robert Popeo, sought to distance the speaker from the scandal, saying he has fully complied with investigators.
“He is not a subject, target or person of interest in any of the investigation that is taking place,” Popeo said. “People from his office produced records (to the grand jury). He was never in front of the grand jury.”
Patrick last night said the indictment was “deeply disturbing,” while one lawmaker called the charges “a huge distraction and a huge blow to the House.”
DiMasi’s indictment comes just two years after former Speaker Thomas M. Finneran was convicted of obstruction of justice and was put on 18 months’ probation. Finneran’s predecessor, Charles Flaherty, resigned from the Legislature in 1996 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and ethics violations. It also comes months after former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson was charged with taking bribes.
McDonough’s attorney, Thomas Drechsler, proclaimed his client’s innocence and called the allegations “an attack on the lobbying profession.”
“What he is accused of is doing what he has done honorably and honestly for over 30 years and that is to lobby on behalf of his client,” Drechsler said. “He advocated for language in legislation. That’s what lobbyists are paid to do.”
Edward Mason contributed to this report.
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