http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x857485866/Lantigua-only-has-four-words-after-grand-jury-appearance
keddings@eagletribune.com
SALEM, Mass. – Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua yesterday met the grand
jury that already has indicted two of his top aides in a half-hour
session that came just days after the FBI grilled a city employee and
Lantigua confidant about tens of thousands of dollars allegedly missing
from city parking receipts.
Neither Lantigua nor his lawyer, Jeffrey Denner – one of the state’s
most prominent criminal defense attorneys – would comment on what
happened before the grand jury, although Denner said going in that he
did not believe Lantigua is a target of its investigation.
Asked after the session if he stood by that statement, Denner declined
to comment, citing “the secrecy and sanctity of grand jury proceedings.”
“There is very little we can say today, other than that this is a
continuing proceeding and Mayor Lantigua and I will, as time goes on,
have more to say,” Denner said as he and Lantigua walked from the Essex
County courthouse and into the throng of reporters and photographers
awaiting them on the sidewalk.
Lantigua stood beside Denner during the three-minute press conference
outside, wearing a gray pin-striped suit, crossing his hands in front of
himself, smiling slightly and uncharacteristically silent.
He broke his
silence only as he stepped into the front seat of the silver Range
Rover provided by Denner’s Boston law firm that took them from the
courthouse, when he turned to reporters, waved his arm and shouted, “I
love you all.”
Whatever Lantigua’s testimony yesterday, it was a milestone for his
troubled administration and for a grand jury that already has subpoenaed
about a dozen of its employees and indicted two on bribery, extortion,
and conspiracy charges.
On Sept. 11, 2012, the grand jury indicted Lantigua’s former chief of
staff, Leonard Degnan for allegedly pressuring a city contractor to
donate vehicles to municipalities in the Dominican Republic, where
Lantigua was born, returns often and has become a force in national
politics in recent years.
Also on Sept. 11, the grand jury indicted Deputy Police Chief Melix
Bonilla, who managed Lantigua’s 2009 mayoral campaign, for swapping 13
city vehicles for four owned by a used car dealer connected to Lantigua
who specializes in sending used cars to the Dominican Republic.
Investigators said the deal cost the city about $30,000.
The Essex County grand jury also is investigating allegations of bid
rigging, suspicious out-of-country travel and campaign finance
violations, according to transcripts of the testimony it has heard that
were included in a motion Bonilla filed to have his charges dismissed.
The motion was denied.
Last week, another allegation may have been added to the mix when the
FBI questioned parking attendant Justo Garcia about the collections that
may be missing from the Museum Square garage, where Lantigua gave
Garcia an attendant’s job and then promoted him to second in command
with responsibility for collecting the proceeds for monthly passes at
the cash-only garage.
“My assumption would be there’s probably a variety of topics they’re
interested in,” Denner told WCVB, a Boston television station, early
yesterday about the missing money. “I assume that would be one of them.”
Lantigua’s appearance before the grand jury yesterday was notable for
its brevity and for the fact that grand juries rarely subpoena the
targets of their investigation, although it was unclear whether Lantigua
appeared as a witness to crimes that may have been committed by someone
else.
Lantigua received his subpoena ordering him to the grand jury as he
disembarked from a plane at Logan International Airport Monday night,
when he returned from a trip of more than two weeks to Florida and the
Dominican Republic.
At the grand jury yesterday, Lantigua apparently made none of the
motions and requested none of the hearings that other city employees who
so far have testified before grand jury have sought. There appeared to
be no attempt to quash the subpoena or to request to be allowed to
invoke Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination, which
likely would have required a review by a judge.
Lantigua and Denner arrived at the courthouse at 1:45 p.m., a few
minutes before their scheduled hearing. The two went down to the grand
jury hearing room in the basement, then came back up to the courthouse
atrium a few minutes later, where they conferred alone for about 20
minutes before going back down. They left the building just before 3
p.m.
Denner has represented some of the most high-profile clients in
Massachusetts and the nation, including Christian Gerhartsreiter, who
last month was convicted in the murder of a California man in 1985 and
went by the name of Clark Rockefeller while living in Boston.
Denner also represented former state Treasurer Timothy Cahill against
charges that a state Lottery advertising campaign he authorized was
designed to promote his failed candidacy for governor in 2010. In
February, Cahill paid $100,000 as part of a settlement that ended the
case. Denner also won an $18.1 million wrongful death settlement for the
family of Milena Del Valle, the 38-year-old woman who was killed when a
26-ton concrete panel fell from the ceiling of the Big Dig tunnel in
Boston in 2006.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Former FSU student Uttley to plead guilty
Brooke Uttley, 23, of Haverhill faces numerous charges, including vehicular homicide, for the Dec. 3, 2011, crash that killed fellow FSU student Ashley Donahue of Bridgewater.
On Wednesday in Middlesex Superior Court, after meeting with prosecutor Darina Belot and Uttley’s lawyer Jeffrey A. Denner, Judge S. Jane Haggerty scheduled a change of plea hearing on May 22.
After the hearing, Denner said he and Belot will be submitting separate sentencing recommendations, but he would not say what the recommendations would be.
However, he said he expects Uttley, who has been held at MCI-Framingham since she was arrested in April for violating her pretrial probation, will receive a jail term. As part of her terms of release, she was ordered not to drink any alcohol but authorities said she was caught drinking at the T.G.I. Fridays in Framingham last month.
"We’re not expecting her to leave the court a free woman that day," said Denner. "Someone is dead, and people have to pay the consequences."
Uttley has already been held in custody for about three weeks, which would count as time served. A vehicular homicide while intoxicated charge can carry a sentence of two and a half years to 15 years in prison, or one to two and a half years in the House of Correction.
"Nobody likes jail and she’s no different," said Denner. "It’s a difficult time for her, but it’s also a difficult time for the victim's family. This is a tough, tough, tough case for everyone involved. Everyone loses."
In the 2011 crash, Uttley is charged with vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of liquor, causing serious bodily injury and driving to endanger.
Prosecutors say Uttley was drunk when she crashed her Honda Civic into a telephone pole on Badger Road in Framingham around 2:20 a.m. on Dec. 3.
Donahue, one of four passengers in the car, was found dead in the brush some distance from the car. She had been thrown through a rear window during the crash. One other passenger was seriously injured.
Authorities said Uttley’s blood alcohol level was .10 at the time of the crash. The legal limit is .08. Uttley, who left FSU after the crash, remains held without bail at MCI-Framingham.
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