Jurors also heard testimony about the promotion of Bernard Dow. Deputy Commissioner William Burke sat on the panel that interviewed Dow, who was sponsored by former House Speaker Sal DiMasi.
BOSTON - Kathleen Petrolati, the wife of state Rep. Thomas Petrolati, a Ludlow Democrat, testified Thursday in the trial of former probation commissioner John O'Brien and his deputies.
Kathleen Petrolati was hired in 2000 as the program manager for an electronic monitoring center in Springfield. Prosecutors allege that Petrolati received a job at the Probation Department over more qualified candidates because of her political connections.
O'Brien and his deputies, William Burke and Elizabeth Tavares, are on trial in U.S. District Court on charges of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit racketeering. O'Brien and Tavares also face racketeering charges. Prosecutors say the three former employees ran a rigged hiring system where they hired politically connected candidates over more qualified candidates in exchange for benefits from the state legislature, then lied on forms certifying the hires were done correctly.
Prosecutors are expected to argue that Petrolati's hire violated the state's bribery and gratuity laws, because the job was given to her in exchange for benefits her husband gave the Probation Department by supporting the department's budget and other legislative requests.
The independent Ware Report found that Thomas Petrolati was an influential figure in recommending job candidates to the department. Many department employees donated to Petrolati's campaign, and he supported the department in the legislature.
However, Kathleen Petrolati, in accordance with a prior agreement, did not testify about her husband. Petrolati's attorney had said she would claim marital privilege – which means she cannot be compelled to testify about communications with her husband. Petrolati testified solely about her qualifications for the Probation Department job.
Paul Lucci, a retired deputy commissioner at the Probation Department, said previously that Petrolati had fewer qualifications than other candidates. Lucci said he was instructed by Deputy Commissioner Francis Wall before the interview to pass Petrolati on to a final interview round.
Petrolati, 55, testified under an order compelling her to testify and granting her immunity from prosecution. Before she was hired by the Probation Department in 2000, Petrolati worked as a paraprofessional for the Ludlow school district, as a liaison between a rehabilitation hospital in Ludlow and the community, and as a collections manager for Springfield Institution for Savings. She had no experience in criminal justice and her application did not include any references. She was enrolled in the University of Massachusetts but had not completed college.
Petrolati testified that she had experience at the bank managing a department and supervising staff. She left that job when she had a daughter. Asked why she left her job at the hospital, she said, "Teenage girls. Need I say more?"
Asked what she knew about electronic monitoring before her interview, Petrolati said, "Only what I gleaned from researching it on the Internet."
When Petrolati was hired, she earned $47,000 annually. In 2004, her salary was raised to $61,000. Petrolati still works at the electronic monitoring program. As of 2013, she was earning $108,000 a year, according to the state payroll database.
Petrolati also testified that she and Mindy Burke, William Burke's daughter who was hired as a coordinator for the electronic monitoring program, were the only employees in the program's Springfield office.
Burke's hire is also mentioned in the indictment as part of the racketeering conspiracy, but there has been little testimony about it. When her name came up, Judge William Young instructed the jury that "nepotism is not an issue in this case."
Prosecutors also on Thursday brought testimony about another candidate, whom they claim was promoted because of political connections.
Bernard Dow was promoted from probation officer to assistant chief probation officer in Worcester District Court in 2005 after being sponsored by then-House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi. William Burke sat on his interview panel.
Daniel Toscano, an aide to DiMasi who testified under an immunity agreement, said he spoke to Dow about his job application, then passed on DiMasi's recommendation of Dow to O'Brien.
Worcester District Court Judge Paul LoConto, the regional administrative judge for that area, interviewed Dow. LoConto had no memory of the interview but read from his interview notes at the time. On a handful of questions, he gave Dow ratings of "adequate" or "good," and he ranked Dow second among the job candidates. His top-ranked candidate, Geoffrey Shooshan, LoConto described as having "excellent character" and being "very good!" He also described his third-ranked candidate, Antoinetta DeAngelis as "excellent." (DeAngelis is the daughter of Nicholas DeAngelis, a retired Probation Department regional administrator.)
Burke's attorney James Bradbury brought out on cross-examination that Dow had been a probation officer for 29 years – longer than any of the other candidates. Dow had a master's degree and was a licensed social worker. Shooshan, whom the interview panel ranked first, had worked as a probation officer for 20 years.
"Dow was pretty tough probation officer?" Bradbury asked.
"He was," LoConto said.
"Bernie Dow was qualified for the position of first assistant chief probation officer?" Bradbury asked.
"I believe he was qualified," LoConto said.
With the trial entering its 36th day of testimony, prosecutors are expected to finish their case Friday, after Young ordered them to abide by a strict time limit.
Prosecutors plan to conclude by reading to the jury statements made by Burke and possibly Tavares to independent investigator Paul Ware.
Prosecutors originally had 130 pages of raw testimony from each, which prosecutors then whittled down. But Young then required them to redact any statements that include innuendo against the other defendants.
By law, Burke's statement can only be used against Burke and Tavares' statement can only be used against Tavares. Because all three officials are standing trial together, jurors cannot hear statements from one defendant that would be prejudicial to another.
According to the Ware report, Burke said he sat on local interview panels occasionally and received names of favored candidates from O'Brien's office, including from Tavares. Burke said "99 percent" of those names were sent back to the commissioner's office for a final-round interview.
Young, however, has said he will exclude those comments and limit Burke's statements to comments about Burke's relationship with Thomas Petrolati and other political figures.
The defense is expected to begin its case Friday. Defense attorneys have not said who they plan to call as witnesses, but they have estimated their case will take three days.
Defense attorneys are also expected to file motions asking Young to acquit their clients on some or all of the charges without sending the case to the jury.
While it seems unlikely Young would dismiss the entire case, he could drop some charges. Prosecutors have brought 10 charges of mail fraud against all three defendants, although they only brought evidence in eight. They have also brought evidence of other hires that prosecutors say were fraudulent or violate the state's bribery and gratuity laws. These form the basis for a charge of racketeering conspiracy against all three; and racketeering for O'Brien and Tavares.
Young has, in informal hearings, quizzed prosecutors on their legal theories for calling Burke and Tavares "conspirators" in hires with which they had no direct involvement.
An earlier version of this story called Petrolati's immunity order an agreement. Her attorney said it was not an "agreement," but the judge compelled her to testify under threat of contempt after the government applied for the immunity order.
