Obstruction of Justice in Legislative Redistricting Case
On January 5, 2007, prior to the start of the scheduled criminal trial Finneran pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice in exchange for federal prosecutors' dropping perjury charges against him; the plea bargain allowed him to avoid jail time. Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Finneran recommended that the once-powerful figure on Beacon Hill receive 18 months of unsupervised probation and a $25,000 fine. In return, Finneran agreed not to run for any elected political position in state, federal or municipal government for five years after his sentencing date. The US Attorney's office agreed to dismiss three counts of perjury against Finneran.
On November 14, 2003, he made misleading and false statements under oath in US District Court, according to the agreement. The seven-page document, signed by Finneran on January 3, 2007, states, "Defendant expressly and unequivocally admits that he committed the crime so charged in the indictment, and that he is in fact guilty of the offense so charged in the indictment." Finneran faced 16 to 21 months in prison if he was convicted on all counts stemming from criminal charges that he misrepresented his role in the creation of a legislative redistricting map that diluted the clout of minority voters. Finneran lost his $30,000-a-year pension after his plea. A decision in 2006 by the state Supreme Judicial Court permitted a pension to be revoked in a similar case of breach of public trust. His attorney, Richard Egbert, has said Finneran never claimed he was totally uninvolved in the redistricting process and that he acknowledged in his testimony having about "half a dozen" conversations with leaders of the redistricting committee.
The state of Massachusetts Retirement Board voted in October of 2012, that Finneran was not entitled to a government pension of about $32,900 a year due to his conviction of obstruction of justice in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Finneran
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—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“Every obstruction of the course of justice,—is a door opened to betray society, and bereave us of those blessings which it has in view.... It is a strange way of doing honour to God, to screen actions which are a disgrace to humanity.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
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