Blagojevich was convicted on a number of corruption charges, which included attempting to gain financially from the appointment of President Barack Obama's Senate seat.

(AP)Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich left, is hugged by a supporter as he leaves his home Monday, June 27, 2011, in Chicago for the Federal court after jurors informed the judge that they had reached agreement on 18 of the 20 counts against him in his corruption retrial. A jury convicted Rod Blagojevich Monday of nearly all the corruption charges against him, including trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama's old Senate seat.(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

CHICAGO (AP) — Rod Blagojevich, who rode his talkative everyman image to two terms as Illinois governor before scandal made him a national punch line, was convicted Monday of a wide range of corruption charges, including the incendiary allegation that he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama's Senate seat.

The verdict was a bitter defeat for Blagojevich, who had spent 2½ years professing his innocence on reality TV shows and later on the witness stand. His defense team had insisted that hours of FBI wiretap recordings were just the ramblings of a politician who liked to think out loud. He faces up to 300 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines are sure to reduce his time behind bars.

The decision capped a long-running spectacle in which Blagojevich became famous for blurting on a recorded phone call that his ability to appoint Obama's successor to the Senate was "f---ing golden" and that he wouldn't let it go "for f---ing nothing."

Blagojevich becomes the second straight Illinois governor convicted of corruption. His predecessor, George Ryan, is now serving 6½ years in federal prison.

Judge James Zagel has ruled that Blagojevich will be barred from travelling outside the area without permission from the judge. A status hearing for sentencing was set for Aug. 1.

The case exploded into scandal when Blagojevich was awakened by federal agents on Dec. 9, 2008, at his Chicago home and was led away in handcuffs. Federal prosecutors had been investigating his administration for years, and some of his closest cronies had already been convicted.

"The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said before a bank of television cameras after the arrest.

Blagojevich, who was also accused of shaking down businessmen for campaign contributions, was swiftly impeached and removed from office.

The verdict provided affirmation to Fitzgerald, one of the nation's most prominent prosecutors, who had condemned Blagojevich's dealings as a "political crime spree." Mentioned at times as a possible future FBI director, Fitzgerald pledged to retry the governor after the first jury deadlocked on all but the least serious of 24 charges against him.

This time, the 12 jurors voted to convict the 54-year-old Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts after deliberating nine days. He also faces up to five additional years in prison for his previous conviction of lying to the FBI.

After his arrest, Blagojevich called federal prosecutors "cowards and liars" and challenged Fitzgerald to face him in court if he was "man enough."

In what many saw as embarrassing indignities for a former governor, he sent his wife to the jungle for a reality television show, "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," where she had to eat a tarantula. He later showed his own ineptitude at simple office skills before being fired on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice."

To most Illinois residents, he was a reminder of the corruption that has plagued the state for decades.

For the second trial, prosecutors streamlined their case, and attorneys for the former governor put on a defense — highlighted by a chatty Blagojevich taking the witness stand for seven days to portray himself as a big talker but not a criminal.

Testifying was a gamble for the former congressman, who had promised to take the stand in his first trial but failed to do so after his attorneys rested their case without calling a single witness.

Prosecutors dropped Blagojevich's brother as a defendant and cut down on the number of charges against the ousted governor. They summoned about half as many witnesses, asked fewer questions and barely touched on topics not directly related to the charges, such as Blagojevich's lavish shopping or his erratic working habits.

Blagojevich seemed to believe he could talk his way out of trouble from the witness stand. Indignant one minute, laughing the next, seemingly in tears once, he endeavored to counteract the blunt, greedy man he appeared to be on FBI wiretaps. He apologized to jurors for the four-letter words that peppered the recordings.

"When I hear myself swearing like that, I am an F-ing jerk," he told jurors.

He clearly sought to solicit sympathy. He spoke about his working-class parents and choked up recounting the day he met his wife, the daughter of a powerful Chicago alderman. He reflected on his feelings of inferiority at college where other students wore preppy "alligator" shirts. Touching on his political life, he portrayed himself as a friend of working people, the poor and elderly.

He told jurors his talk on the wiretaps merely displayed his approach to decision-making: to invite a whirlwind of ideas — "good ones, bad ones, stupid ones" — then toss the ill-conceived ones out. To demonstrate the absurdities such brainstorming could generate, he said he once considered appointing himself to the Senate seat so he could travel to Afghanistan and help hunt down Osama bin Laden.

Other times, when a prosecutor read wiretap transcripts where Blagojevich seems to speak clearly of trading the Senate seat for a job, Blagojevich told jurors, "I see what I say here, but that's not what I meant."

The government offered a starkly different assessment to jurors: Blagojevich was a liar, and had continued to lie, over and over, to their faces.

Lead prosecutor Reid Schar started his questioning of Blagojevich with a quick verbal punch: "Mr. Blagojevich, you are a convicted liar, correct?"

"Yes," Blagojevich eventually answered after the judge overruled a flurry of defense objections.

The proof, prosecutors said, was there on the FBI tapes played for jurors. That included his infamous rant: "I've got this thing and it's f---ing golden, and I'm just not giving it up for f---ing nothing. I'm not gonna do it."

Prosecutors may also have been helped by testimony from Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who was called to testify by the defense but whose testimony backfired. During cross-examination, he told jurors that Blagojevich did not appoint Jackson's wife to head the Illinois Lottery in part because Jackson hadn't given the governor a $25,000 campaign donation.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Carrie Hamilton likened Blagojevich as Illinois' chief executive to a corrupt traffic cop tapping on car windows and pressing drivers for a bribe to tear up a speeding ticket.

A major goal is to use 20 percent of the food grown in the community garden to feed children in Greenfield public schools.

GREENFIELD – About half of the 61-acre town farm off Leyden Road and Glenbrook Drive now has a $198,000 agricultural preservation restriction in place, which will permanently enable the city to use the land for food growth and education.

The state Department of Agricultural Resources approved the restriction on 31.057 acres, which precludes any development that can make the land less viable. Essentially, the city was paid not to develop.

The non-profit Just Roots won a five-year lease to create and manage a community farm, as well as agricultural education programs, on the property. The agreement requires Town Council approval, which it may receive at the July 20 meeting.

Planning and development director Eric Twarog said there are a variety of benefits to the restriction.

“This was one way to get increased revenue in the town,” said Twarog. “There really are no drawbacks.”

A major goal is to use 20 percent of the food grown in the community garden to feed children in Greenfield public schools, he said.

Just Roots has a temporary lease that allows them to do some work on the land, such as soil improvement that will prepare it for the next growing season. Twarog said food might be grown this year, but was unsure if it would be ready in time.

There are two barns that need repair and the APR money can fund the work. One will be turned into a multi-purpose room and used to teach schoolchildren about farming.

Just Roots supports local food production in partnership with Pleasant Street Community Gardens, the Greening Greenfield Energy Committee and Mount Grace Conservation Land Trust.

“I think, because of this, the community will be involved even more” in local agriculture, Twarog said.

Mayor William Martin said in a press release that this type of work was part of his campaign platform in 2009.

“These projects take deep effort, wide coordination and time,” he said in the release. “The results are worth the wait and we will create a unique and sustaining relationship between farming, education and local food supply.”

The judge presiding over the Whitey Bulger case ordered prosecutors and Bulger's temporary lawyer to reach an agreement on whether Bulger will get a court-appointed attorney to defend him against charges that he had a role in 19 murders.

By DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer

BOSTON (AP) — The judge who will preside over the case against Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger has ordered prosecutors and Bulger's temporary lawyer to try to reach an agreement on whether Bulger will get a court-appointed attorney to defend him against charges that he had a role in 19 murders.

Prosecutors object to Bulger receiving a taxpayer-funded attorney. Authorities found $800,000 in cash in the California apartment where Bulger was arrested last week after 16 years as a fugitive, prosecutor Brian Kelly said in court. Kelly suggested Bulger has additional hidden assets and might be able to get financial help from his brother, former Massachusetts Senate president William Bulger.

Prosecutors and Bulger's provisional attorney should confer to determine whether they can reach an agreement, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf told them in an order filed Sunday.

Prosecutors plan to seek forfeiture of the $800,000 found in Bulger's apartment, Kelly said in court Friday. Money that is earned illegally is subject to forfeiture to the government.

In his order, Wolf said the determination on whether a defendant is entitled to a public defender is made on the basis of income and assets available to the defendant.

"Assets that have been seized or restrained pending possible forfeiture are not considered to be available to retain counsel," Wolf wrote.

Wolf has a long history with Bulger's case. In the 1990s, he held hearings that publicly exposed the relationship between Bulger, an FBI informant, and his former FBI handler, John Connolly Jr., who was convicted in 2002 of protecting Bulger and looking the other way while he committed crimes.

In his order, Wolf cited a ruling he made in 1997, when he found that three former codefendants of Bulger's — Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme and Robert DeLuca — were financially unable to retain private lawyers and were entitled to public defenders.

"This case has been pending for 16 years," Wolf wrote. "It is important that the issue of Bulger's eligibility for the appointment of counsel be decided as promptly as possible to permit the case to proceed."

Bulger's lawyer, Peter Krupp, has filed a financial affidavit for Bulger, which is sealed from public view. Krupp and prosecutors were both expected to submit written arguments Monday to Wolf on whether Bulger should be granted a public defender. A hearing on Bulger's request is scheduled for Tuesday.

Bulger's girlfriend, Catherine Greig, who was arrested with him last week after spending 16 years on the run with him, has withdrawn her request for a public defender and hired Kevin Reddington, a high-profile criminal defense lawyer from Brockton. Greig, who is charged with harboring a fugitive, has a detention hearing scheduled in federal court Thursday.

Although prosecutors have made it clear they will seek forfeiture of Bulger's assets, a lawyer for one of Bulger's victims has won a lien on the $800,000 in cash authorities found in Bulger's Santa Monica, Calif., apartment.

U.S. District Judge William Young issued an order Friday placing a lien on the money, which means the cash will be frozen for now.

A judge will decide later whether the victim, Julie Dammers, or the government will get the $800,000, said Boston attorney Anthony Cardinale, who represents Dammers. Dammers and her ex-husband, Stephen Rakes, say they were forced at gunpoint to sell their liquor store to Bulger. The lien was requested by Dammers and the bankruptcy trustee for Rakes.

Cardinale said the money should be used to help pay off an unpaid civil judgment Rakes and her ex-husband received. The 2005 judgment, including interest, is now up to about $31.5 million, Cardinale said.

"My argument is that the superior right to the money is the victims', not the government," Cardinale said.

Governments Response to Order Appointment of Counsel 1994

Governments Response to Order Appointment of Counsel 1999

Baye's attorneys have submitted a 64-page memorandum asking that evidence gathered during the police interview with Baye be excluded from trial.

The Republican / Don TreegerAttorney David P. Hoose (left) stands with his client, Anthony P. Baye, during an appearance in Hampshire Superior Court.

NORTHAMPTON – Brett Vottero, special prosecutor in the case against Anthony P. Baye, has filed his response contending why Judge Constance Sweeney should not suppress evidence in the case of Baye, who is charged in connection with 15 fires and the death of two men in Northampton in the early hours of Dec. 27, 2009.

Last week, Baye’s attorneys submitted a 64-page memorandum asking that evidence gathered during the Jan. 4 police interview with Baye be excluded from trial evidence, arguing that he was denied his right to a lawyer by the state police troopers who interrogated him.

In the interview, Baye can be seen admitting that he set some of the fires. Paul Yeskie and his son, Paul Yeskie Jr., died in one of those fires. Baye faces two counts of first-degree murder for their deaths in addition to many other charges stemming from the fires.

Although the memorandum does not raise new arguments, it outlines Baye’s case in detail, sometimes quoting minute by minute from the nearly 10-hour interview. It makes frequent reference to interviewing techniques used by trooper Michael Mazza and Sgt. Paul Zipper, saying the officers misled Baye by minimizing the fires, assuring him they would be treated as accidents if he admitted that he was “goofing off.”

In his eight-page response, Vottero contends that police who had already provided Miranda warnings at the outset of the interview do not need to repeat the warnings “whenever a defendant in an in interrogation moves toward inculpating himself.”

Commonwealth’s Supplemental Memoradum in Opposition to Defendant Anthony Baye’s Motion to Suppress Statements

He also contends the defendant uses “every conceivable utterance that could be beneficial to his cause, he elides other information that would be detrimental to it.”

He said the defense “accurately excerpts what Sergeant Zipper said to a point, but he then leapfrogs two sentences in which the sergeant sought to clarify the defendant’s ambiguous reference to a lawyer.”

Vottero said that the tact would be admissible if the court had “to reconstruct the interview through oral recollections.” But he said there is a tape of the proceedings.

Sweeney has taken the case under advisement.

Anthony Baye Memorandum in Support of Motion to Suppress

Hampden DA Mark Mastroianni has instructed the State Police to apply for a criminal complaint to charge Moran with 2 misdemeanors.

The Republican | John SuchockiHolyoke provisional Fire Chief William P. Moran faces criminal charges related to making a false emergency call and sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on June 15.

SPRINGFIELD - Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said he has instructed the State Police to apply for a criminal complaint against Acting Holyoke Fire Chief William P. Moran.

The complaint application charges him with two misdemeanors. One is communicating false information to an emergency response facility. The other is being a disorderly person.

Moran was put on paid administrative leave two weeks ago by the city’s fire commission after being accused of making a false emergency call and sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on June 15.

During the response, one driver failed to pull over for the fire truck and created a multiple-car accident on Homestead Avenue and Pynchon Road. The driver was treated and released at Holyoke Medical Center.

The Holyoke Fire Commission also held an emergency meeting about Moran. Members revealed they took a unanimous vote but would not say what the issue was about, which is legal because it is a personal matter.

Moran, a 27-year fire department veteran who worked on Mayor Elaine A. Pluta’s election campaign, has had a series of discipline problems and was demoted to captain by former mayor Michael J. Sullivan. That decision was reversed a year ago and shortly after that he was named acting fire chief.

Both charges are misdemeanors. Moran will be informed of the complaint application and a District Court clerk-magistrate will schedule a show cause hearing. Parties will appear before a clerk-magistrate, who will decide whether or not to issue the complaint, Mastroianni said.

Hampden County DA Mark Mastroianni's Press Release Regarding Charges Filed Against Holyoke Fire Chief Willi...

If the complaint is issued an arraignment date will be set.

Mastroianni said the call was not for a fire, but for an “investigation.” But an investigation call triggers an emergency response, causing a response with lights and sirens.

The disorderly person complaint application is because the behavior caused a public annoyance or hazard, because the response with lights and sirens caused traffic to be disrupted, Mastroianni said.

MassLive.com will update as more information becomes available.

Prosecutors say Bulger refused to say who he visited in Boston.

AP Photo/Jane Flavell CollinsIn this courtroom sketch, James "Whitey" Bulger stands during his initial appearance in a federal courtroom in Boston Friday, June 24, 2011. His brother William Bulger, left, and Judge Marianne Bowler, right, are also depicted.

BOSTON — Notorious gangster James "Whitey" Bulger told agents who arrested him last week that he returned to Boston in disguise and "armed to the teeth" several times during his 16 years on the run, prosecutors said Monday.

The revelations about Bulger's life on the lam were disclosed in a written memo filed Monday by federal prosecutors who are objecting to Bulger's request for a taxpayer-funded attorney.

Bulger, 81, the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang who is charged in connection with 19 murders, was arrested in Santa Monica, Calif., last week, after spending years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

Bulger, while being brought back to Boston by federal agents, waived his Miranda rights and "admitted that he had been a frequent traveler as a fugitive," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Kelly and Fred Wyshak Jr. said in their memo.

They said Bulger admitted traveling to Boston several times "armed to the teeth" because he "had to take care of some unfinished business."

"Bulger refused to elaborate on whom he visited, when exactly he visited, and who was with him on these trips to Boston," Kelly and Wyshak wrote.

"While Bulger also admitted that he had previously stashed money with people he trusted, he did not identify anyone who might be currently hiding his assets."

Bulger also said he visited Las Vegas to play the slots on numerous occasions and "claimed he won more than he lost." He also said he traveled to San Diego, then crossed the Mexican border into Tijuana to buy medications, according to the memo.

"The foregoing facts are of course significant because they indicate Bulger may have additional assets and/or allies willing to assist him in his current predicament," Kelley and Wyshak wrote in the memo.

The prosecutors also said Bulger told the U.S. Pretrial Services office in Los Angeles that his brother, former Massachusetts Senate President William Bulger, may be willing to help post bail for Catherine Greig, Bulger's longtime girlfriend who was arrested with him after the couple was found in California. Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive.

"Of course, if that is true, William Bulger might also be willing to pay for an attorney to represent his brother, James Bulger," prosecutors say in their memo.

Kelly and Wyshak said the court should require an affidavit from William Bulger and another Bulger brother, John, before deciding whether Whitey Bulger is entitled to a public defender.

Peter Krupp, an attorney who represented Whitey Bulger at his initial appearance in court last week, said no one in Bulger's family has offered to help him pay for his defense.

"Mr. Bulger has not and will not request any members of his extended family to pay anything for his defense, nor can he control any family member's assets to pay anything for his defense," Krupp wrote in a memo arguing that Bulger does not have the money to pay for a private attorney.

"His family has not come forward to hire counsel, and there is no evidence to support the government's surmise that extended family members might be willing and able to hire counsel or make some contribution toward the cost of hiring counsel," Krupp wrote.

Krupp also filed a motion Monday asking the court to bar the FBI and other law enforcement agents from leaking non-public information on the case to the press.

The facility will include a 40-acre parking lot, outbuilding facilities and a newly landscaped road entrance from Faculty Street.

Construction is underway on a new artificial turf field at Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Wilbraham.

WILBRAHAM – Wilbraham & Monson Academy has begun construction of a new $1 million artificial turf field on a 10-acre site off Faculty Street on its campus that will serve as a home field and tournament facility for girls field hockey and lacrosse.

The facility also will be used by the school’s football team, which will play all of its home games there, and will include an adjacent junior varsity baseball diamond.

The facility will include a 40-acre parking lot, outbuilding facilities and a newly landscaped road entrance from Faculty Street.

Artificial turf fields are more durable and are considered a more desirable surface for field athletics.

The Wilbraham & Monson Academy land previously was occupied by practice fields with no direct road access.

Site work began in May and construction will continue through the summer, Wilbraham & Monson Academy Communications Director Rita Carey said. She said the field should be ready for play for the fall athletic season.

The 207-year-old school also expects to host athletic tournament play using the artificial turf complex and the existing athletic fields on Faculty Street, which were upgraded in recent years.

Head of School Rodney LaBrecque said, “This upgrading of our athletic facilities builds upon the development of our new athletic center and upgraded playing fields completed just two years ago.”

He said the upgrade allows the school to compete favorably with its peer schools and to recruit student-athletes, and provides a playing venue for field hockey and girls lacrosse that matches the quality of girls field hockey and lacrosse coach Francesca DenHartog, a Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee and a key new member of the athletics and admissions team at the academy.

Carey said five major donors stepped forward to collectively fund the construction costs.

She said fundraising is ongoing for additional enhancements to the fields above the $1 million costs.

Donors will be honored at a field dedication ceremony once the complex is completed, Carey said.

Cook, serving in Iraq since November, was killed on his June 6 birthday during a rocket attack on his military base in Baghdad.

AGAWAM - U.S. Army Spc. Michael Benjamin Cook Jr., one of five soldiers killed in action in Iraq earlier this month, was laid to rest here Monday at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

The 27-year-old Cook, who has family ties to West Springfield, was born in Lowell and graduated from high school in Salem, N.H. in 2003.

The Union Leader reported that Cook, serving in Iraq since November, was killed on his June 6 birthday during a rocket attack on his military base in Baghdad. The attack is considered the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Iraq in two years.

“No one wants peace more than the young soldiers on the front line on the battlefield,” said the Rev. Kenneth J. Tatro, pastor St. Thomas Church in West Springfield. “Michael worked hard for that peace, it cost him his life.”

Cook, who leaves behind a wife, Samantha Mitchell-Cook and their two young children, entered the army in Oct. 2009 and was assigned tot the 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in fort Riley Kansas.

“I could never ask for a better battle buddy,” said fellow unit member Spc. Brandon Richardson, who told mourners that Cook would want them to celebrate his life.

Other speakers at the service included Brig. Gen. John J. McGuiness, deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command and Senior Commander of the Natick Soldiers System Center in Natick.

“We will never forget Michael’s service,” McGuiness said. “We will continue to honor him as an American hero and Mike is an American hero.”

During his service, Cook was awarded both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. “I think that shows that Mike was true warrior,” McGuiness said of the Bronze Star.

McGuiness read a tribute, written by Pfc. Marquis Davis, who served with Cook. “As a soldier, Spc. Cook was an excellent battle buddy, There was never a time when he wasn’t ready to help.”

Davis went on to say in his tribute that Cook was always there for him. “He would always tell me, ‘Hey man, just think of it this way, we are almost home.”

In his tribute, Davis said that Cook’s favorite super hero was Captain America. “He even planned to get a tattoo of Captain America’s shield on him to signify that he, like Captain America, was indestructible.”

McGuiness touched on Davis’s message in his parting message to Cook’s family. “May the hand of God reach down to guide you in the days ahead and may you continue to grieve Captain America,” he said.

Services for Cook continued inside the chapel on the grounds of the Agawam veterans cemetery.

Ryan Kelliher of Toomey-O’Brien Funeral Home in West Springfield, said that Mitchell-Cook’s family is related to the late Larry F. Frenette of West Springfield.

Frenette, a decorated World War II veteran and past commander of the American Legion Post 207, died in 2005.

Cook’s funeral procession was accompanied by some 50 members of the Patriot Guard Riders. Members of national group, displaying a phalanx of American flags, stood watch outside both the West Springfield church and Agawam chapel has the services were conducted.

Springfield resident Clarence “Bix” Belden, said family members has asked the Patiot Guard Riders to attend.

Belden said many of the Patriot Guard riders are Vietnam veterans who received little if no recognition, and in some cases scorn, when they returned home. “That’s not going to happen again,” he said.

Since he retired in January 2009, DiMasi has received $139,621 in pension funds.

Associated PressFormer Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi walks out of the Federal courthouse in Boston, Wednesday, June 15, 2011 afternoon, after his conviction on conspiracy and other charges in a scheme to steer two state contracts worth $17.5 million to a software firm in exchange for payments.

By KYLE CHENEY
State House News Service

BOSTON — Attorney General Martha Coakley is seeking the permission of the Superior Court to suspend the $5,000-a-month pension of former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who was convicted last month of conspiracy, fraud and extortion.

In a June 23 filing to Superior Court assistant clerk Richard Moscato, David Marks, an assistant attorney general in Coakley's office, urged the court to stay a 2009 Boston Municipal Court ruling that permitted DiMasi to receive his pension while charges against him were pending.

Marks noted that since he retired in January 2009, DiMasi has received $139,621 in pension funds, exceeding his contributions to the pension system during his 30-year public career by more than $12,000.

Marks argued the monthly payments should be held in escrow until DiMasi's sentence is issued in September. DiMasi has indicated he plans to appeal his convictions in a case that U.S. District Court chief judge Mark Wolf has suggested could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

DiMasi's lawyer, Thomas Kiley, has argued that attempts to withhold DiMasi's pension would be improper before DiMasi has had an opportunity to exhaust all potential appeals and motions.

In his motion, Marks argued that although DiMasi would be required to repay all pension funds he received as a result of his convictions, the former speaker's shaky finances - which resulted in Kiley being appointed as his lawyer at taxpayer expense - indicate he would likely be unable to repay the funds he's already obtained.

"Mr. DiMasi does not appear to have the resources to repay pension payments already made to him, to which he may not be entitled, or any restitution for which he may be responsible," Marks wrote. "Placing future pension payments in escrow will allow the parties the necessary time to determine if Mr. DiMasi is entitled to them, without running the risk that excess payments will not be repaid, or restitution will not be made."

Coakley's push to clarify the previous ruling on DiMasi's pension comes three days before the State Retirement Board is scheduled to meet and vote on whether to strip DiMasi of his pension. The board voted in 2009 to do so but was overturned in 2010 by Boston Municipal Court Judge Lawrence McCormick, who said the board overstepped its bounds by punishing DiMasi based on his indictment.

"The indictment itself is insufficient to lead to a conclusion that the charges are true," McCormick argued at the time.

But Marks pointed out that McCormick left open the possibility that his decision could be revisited if circumstances changed.

"The facts and circumstances have now changed," Marks wrote.

Accompanying Marks's filing was a June 17 letter to DiMasi - two days after his convictions - from Nicola Favorito, the executive director of the State Retirement Board, indicating that the board planned to consider acting to withhold DiMasi's retirement allowance. DiMasi, Favorito wrote, would have the ability to present testimony at a hearing to defend himself from the loss of his pension, if the board attempts to withhold future payments.

In a response on June 21, Kiley, DiMasi's attorney, rejected Favorito's suggestions, calling it "premised on a major error of law."

"The major error of law is the premise that last week's jury verdict is a 'final conviction' triggering pension forfeiture under [state law]," Kiley wrote. "It is neither a 'conviction' nor 'final.'"

"In this case the mere verdict is not enough; until a sentence is imposed, there is no 'conviction,' " Kiley continued. "Moreover [under state law] it is not enough that there be a conviction, i.e. imposition of sentence. Instead when and if there is a conviction, it must be 'final.' Every word in a statute must be given meaning, and in the context of a federal conviction, the plain meaning of 'final' is 'that a judgment of conviction has been rendered, the availability of appeal exhausted … Any suspension or termination of Mr. DiMasi's retirement allowance would be unlawful and expose the Board members, yet again, to liability.' "

Pepyne has been accused in the past of negotiating settlements with insurance companies and then withholding large sums of money from his clients.

View full sizeBrian Turner (Creative Commons)

GREENFIELD – Former attorney Edward W. Pepyne, Jr., has been indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on charges that he stole almost $200,000 from an elderly couple he represented in a personal injury case.

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office began the investigation in May and the indictment was returned Friday. He is charged with larceny over $250 of a person over 60 years of age, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in state prison and a $50,000 fine.

Pepyne, 58, of South Deerfield, handled a case in 2006 by an elderly couple who had been in a car accident and settled it before trial, investigators said. Coakley’s office alleges that the couple agreed to give Pepyne one third of the settlement money for his fee, but Pepyne said he needed more for outstanding medical bills.

He kept more than $186,000 despite the fact that there were no more bills, investigators said, and allegedly used the money for his personal expenses.

Coakley’s office did not release or confirm the names of Pepyne’s alleged victims or the details of their accident, but a June 2004 petition for discipline from the state Board of Bar Overseers said Roger and Marion Pearce, of Shelburne, have accused him of similar malfeasance.

They had been in an accident in 2006 on the Mohawk Trail when a milk truck’s brakes failed and it tipped on its side and slid down the highway. Roger Pearce, then 77, settled for $225,000 and his wife, then 72, settled for $437,500. They claimed Pepyne stole about $190,000 of their settlement money, the petition said.

Pepyne’s arraignment is scheduled for July 15 in Franklin Superior Court in Greenfield.

Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan’s office referred the case to Coakley. The prosecutor is Assistant Attorney General Jesse Siegel of the Fraud and Financial Crimes Division.

In 2009, Pepyne submitted an affidavit of resignation to the Board of Bar Overseers and was disbarred in 2010 after allegations surfaced of misuse of his clients’ money. He was accused of negotiating settlements with insurance companies and then withholding large sums of money from his clients.

The board also said he failed to tell them when he was convicted of drunk driving in 2004.

He had practiced law in Massachusetts since 1977. He is the former town attorney for several communities, including Greenfield, Deerfield, Whately and Sunderland.

The city anticipates receipt of $130,000 in federal funding for a January blizzard cleanup.

The Republican file photo | John SuchockiWestfield City Hall is seen this past winter.

WESTFIELD – City officials will use surplus funds in a variety of existing accounts in the Fiscal 2011 municipal budget to offset more than $700,000 in deficit for snow and ice removal from the past winter.

Routinely the city has used its free cash account, usually certified by the state Department of Revenue in the fall, to balance winter road maintenance.

But, Mayor Daniel M. Knapik requested, and received approval, with City Council action transferring small surpluses from 17 accounts involving numerous departments to balance the Department of Public Works’ snow and ice account now rather than later. One large transfer involved $250,000 from city insurance accounts.

“It is called sweeping the books,” Knapik said of using balances in various accounts to cover the DPW expense.

The mayor and City Council also boosted the city’s stabilization account to around $7.5 million with a transfer of $1.9 million in free cash surplus.

The stabilization account provides funding for unforeseen expenses providing the council gives a super majority, or nine votes, to approve any appropriations from it. That funding is also immediately available, unlike free cash, which must sit in the account as of July 1 until it is certified by the state.

The total spent on snow and ice during the past winter amounts to around $1.2 million. The city started the year with $400,000, up $50,000 from previous years, for winter plowing and sanding operations.

The $719,000 transferred by the mayor and council will cover nearly $605,000 in plowing and sanding services and another $114,000 in purchase of supplies, Knapik and Department of Public Works director James M. Mulvenna said.

Westfield also is in line for federal reimbursement for 75 percent of expenses incurred in a January blizzard.

Mulvenna said the city has filed a claim of $130,000 of the total $170,000 cost for the two-day storm.

Knapik said the $130,000 when received, will be place in the free cash account for later use.

The second largest transfer to offset the snow deficit came from the Police Department. Several accounts, including police salaries had surplus amounting to $175,000.

Police Chief John A. Camerota said that amount represents funding not spent from the department’s $6.7 million budget.

French banks agreed to accept slower repayment of Greece's debt, giving Greece more time to meet its other financial obligations.

By DANIEL WAGNER and MATTHEW CRAFT | AP Business Writers

Associated PressFrance's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, smiles during a press conference of France's President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace, in Paris on Monday. French banks are ready to help troubled Greece by accepting a significant debt rollover, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday, a move that could push other banks to pitch in to the Europe-wide effort to keep Athens from defaulting. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Signs that a widespread European debt crisis could be averted helped send stocks up Monday.

French banks agreed to accept slower repayment of Greece's debt, giving Greece more time to meet its other financial obligations. French banks hold $21.3 billion in Greek government debt. Greek lawmakers also began debate more budget-cutting measures. Greece's parliament needs to pass the new austerity plan this week before the country can receive a $17 billion installment from a rescue package arranged last year.

The U.S. government, meanwhile, said that spending by consumers decreased in May, after adjusting for inflation. April's figures were also revised downward, revealing the first decline since January 2010. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

Gas prices nearing $4 per gallon in late April and early May curtailed spending on retail goods such as televisions and clothes. Since then, gas prices have fallen to a national average of $3.57 per gallon. Oil prices have declined steeply over the last few weeks, which should eventually translate into even lower pump prices. Analysts say lower gas prices could help boost consumer spending in other areas in the coming months.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 108.98 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 12,043.56. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.65, or 0.9 percent, to 1,280.10. The Nasdaq composite index rose 35.39, or 1.3 percent, to 2,688.28.

Analysts said the rally was stronger than the economic news would suggest in part because many traders invest when indices hit certain pre-determined price levels.

In this case, the key number is 1,257 — the S&P's break-even figure for the year, said Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research. The S&P approached that level in March and again earlier this month. Both times, the market rallied as so-called technical traders poured into the market.

The Monday-morning rally was driven by "a combination of trading on that (break-even) level and a catalyst, the situation in Europe," Salamone said. "Whether we sustain it is another question."

Stocks rose broadly. All 10 industry groups in the S&P were higher, with financials, information technology and retail stocks showing the strongest gains.

Amazon.com Inc. rose 4.5 percent to $201.25, making it the top-preforming company in the S&P 500. Morgan Stanley analysts said the online retailer should benefit from expanding international sales in places like Japan and Germany, where densely populated cities leave little room for large low-price retail stores.

Shares of electronics maker Molex Inc. fell 4 percent, the most in the S&P, after analysts with Ticonderoga Securities downgraded the stock to "sell" from "neutral." They said the slow economy has hurt demand for tech gadgets like the smart phones that Molex manufactures.

Broad markets have dropped for seven of the past eight weeks as traders received a string of dismal economic data showing that the recovery is slowing. The Dow sank 1 percent on Friday, and the S&P 1.2 percent. The Nasdaq lost 1.3 percent.

The S&P and the Dow both are down 7 percent since they hit their highs for the year on April 29. However, the Dow is still up 4 percent for the year, and the S&P is up 1.8 percent. At the end of June last year, the Dow was down 6.3 percent and the S&P 7.6 percent. The Dow finished the year up 14 percent, the S&P up 12.8 percent.

Europe's debt problems have weighed on global markets in recent weeks, with major indices reacting daily to the news about Greece's progress toward a second bailout loan package. If Greece defaults, the fear is, investors will lose faith in the financial strength of other countries that have borrowed heavily or hold billions in Greek debt. That could lead to a credit crunch — when banks virtually stopped lending to one another — similar to what sparked the broader financial crisis after the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.

Amazon.com Inc. rose 4.5 percent, the top-preforming company in the S&P 500 index. Morgan Stanley analysts said the online retailer should benefit from expanding international sales

More than two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated trading volume was 3.3 billion shares, lighter than average.

Since 2003, when the city started its program, it has collected $3,097,959 in surcharges and received $2,200,554 in matching funds from Massachusetts.

Photo by Julian Feller-CohenAgawam Town Hall

AGAWAM – Agawam city councilors flirted with the idea of putting the future of the Community Preservation Act program on the ballot, but ended up deciding the program to fund recreational and other programs is worthwhile after all.

The City Council voted 2-9 last week on a motion to put a question on the ballot about the program. It enables the city to assess a 1 percent property tax surcharge to fund projects involving open space, historic preservation and affordable housing.

Councilors James P. Cichetti and John F. Walsh had sponsored a proposal to put the issue before local voters. However, Cichetti said after doing research, he decided the program has great value. He ended up voting against the motion.

Among the projects the city’s Community Preservation Committee has used the locally raised money for over the years are $1.7 million for School Street Park, $210,000 for preservation of the historic Thomas Smith House, $248,000 for roof, door and window replacements for the Agawam Housing Authority, $65,000 to preserve historical records in the Town Clerk’s Office and $92,820 for a play area at Benjamin Phelps School.

Since 2003, when the city started its program, it has collected $3,097,959 in surcharges and received $2,200,554 in matching funds from the state.

Councilors Walsh and George Bitzas cast the only votes to put the matter on the ballot. Bitzas said he isn’t against the program, but believes voters should get a chance to weigh in.

“Let the people speak and say if they want it,” Bitzas said. “Don’t underestimate the wisdom and knowledge of the Agawam voter.”

“The economy is much different from back in 2001 when we first passed it,” Walsh said of the city adopting the state legislation that made it possible to have a local program.

Several councilors spoke out strongly in favor of the program.

“I think we’d be making a horrible, horrible mistake if we eliminate this program,” Councilor Robert E. Rossi said.

“There has been a great deal done by the CPA over the years,” Councilor Robert A. Magovern said. The chairman of the Ordinance Committee, Magovern said that body voted 3-0 to keep the program.

Gendron, 67, has spent most of his career with Avery Dennison Corp. in Holyoke, where he managed financial and pricing areas.

Republican flie photo

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Bruce L. Gendron, an aide to state Sen. James T. Welch, will run for an at-large seat on the Town Council in the November election.

A longtime town resident, Gendron announced his candidacy in a press release issued Thursday. Gendron, 67, has spent most of his career with Avery Dennison Corp. in Holyoke, where he managed financial and pricing areas.

After his retirement from there, he became director of development for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. At the same time, he did volunteer work in the office of then-state Rep. Stephen J. Buoniconti, D-West Springfield.

Gendron later worked as a permanent substitute teacher at Agawam Junior High School for eight years, volunteering many hours with at-risk students.

A former Town Meeting member, the candidate is a past president of the West Springfield Lions Club. He has been a volunteer in the West Springfield Public Library’s English as a second language program and is on the board of the Friends of the West Springfield Senior Center.

Gendron is an associate member of the Democratic Committee of West Springfield and served as a delegate June 4 to the Massachusetts Democratic Convention in Lowell.

“I feel that I am in a unique position for the Town Council position. I work in town and have a flexible schedule making me available for issues as they arise,” Gendron stated.

Gendron is a graduate of both Holyoke Community College and Western New England College, where he majored in accounting and finance.

He and his wife, Joanne, live at 200 Poplar Ave.

Edward Gibson is not seeking re-election; Town Councilor Gerard Matthews recently turned in enough signatures to be listed as a mayoral candidate on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Gregory C. Neffinger

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Local architect Gregory C. Neffinger has taken out nomination papers to run for mayor in this fall’s municipal election, meaning there could be a contest for who becomes the city’s next chief executive officer.

Town Councilor Gerard Matthews recently turned in enough signatures to the Town Clerk’s Office to be listed as a mayoral candidate on the Nov. 8 ballot.

“I’ve had Democrats, Republicans and unenrolled (voters) all asking me to run for mayor,” the 52-year-old Neffinger said Friday.

Neffinger said he is confident he will be able to collect 100 signatures of people registered to vote in West Springfield by July 26, needed to place his name on the ballot. Neffinger said he will shortly issue a formal announcement outlining his positions.

A Republican, Neffinger ran unsuccessfully last fall against state Rep. Michael J. Finn, D-West Springfield. He has served on the Historic District Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals in addition to numerous stints on various civic boards.

Matthews, a lawyer, is in his fourth term on the council, where he has served as president and is currently chairman of the council’s Ordinance and Policy Committee. Matthews has also served on the former Board of Selectmen and was on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The incumbent, Mayor Edward J. Gibson, has decided after more than a decade in office not to seek re-election. He has cited the 24-hour nature of the mayoralty as the reason.

Both the National Transportation and Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Authority are investigating.

Photo by Brenda MartinThe scene of last month's train derailment, about 300 yards from the derailment of another train on Saturday.

AMHERST – Officials are trying to learn what caused the derailment of seven train cars Saturday, just about 300 yards from a derailment on the same track late last month.

The train in both accidents is owned by New England Central Railroad, the St. Albans, Vt., company that operates on the 400 miles of track between the Vermont and Quebec borders and New London, Conn.

Town Manager John P. Musante said he had a meeting Monday with officials to talk about the derailment.

No on was injured and the cars did not contain any hazardous material. Crews are cleaning up the site, he said.

The tracks will remain closed until Thursday, Musante said. And trains using the track will be operating at a restricted speed when they re-open, he said.

Station Road, the site of the previous derailment, was not affected this time. Last time, the road was closed for nearly a week after the May 31 seven car derailment.
Amtrak also uses the line.

“We want to understand…to (make sure) it doesn’t happen again,” Musante said.

Both the National Transportation and Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Authority are investigating, Musante said.

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $900,000 in grants for clean-up of revitalization projects in Greater Springfield.

File photo | The RepublicanThe Environmental Protection Agency has awarded grants for clean-up of revitalization projects in Greater Springfield, including Union Station, seen here.

SPRINGFIELD – The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $900,000 for clean-up and revitalization projects in Greater Springfield.

At a news conference outside the long-dormant Union Station, the agency announced a $400,000 cleanup grant for the Union Station redevelopment project and a $500,000 grant for to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for a revolving loan fund.

The funding is part of more than $76 million in so-called brownfield investments made recently by the agency nationwide to protect the health and the environment, create jobs and promote economic redevelopment, said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of the environmental protection agency’s New England office.

The brownfield funding is designed to reclaim old textile mills, sites containing hazardous substance and petroleum produces, as well as contaminated waste sites, Spalding said.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal said he was pleased with the award, especially given its timing. “As central and Western Massachusetts begins to rebuild following the devastating twister that affected 19 communities, I can think of no better timing for this funding,” Neal said.

“As we progress with Union Station, our city is becoming an even better place to live, work and visit,” he added.

The former railroad station on Frank B. Murray Street was built in 1926 and has been abandoned since 1973.

A $70 million reconstruction project is set to begin in the summer of 2012, a scaled-down version of a more elaborate, $115 million plan that foundered when the Federal Transit Authority froze funding amid an audit and corruption investigation at the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, the agency overseeing the project.

No criminal charges were filed , and the Springfield Redevelopment Authority has been given responsibility of running the project.

30 employees spent the day unloading, sorting and bundling donations that have been pouring in to the Salvation Army.

The Republican | Dave RobackMatt Putnam, left, and Nancy Braga, right, both employees of Hasbro in Rhode Island, help sort out clothes at the Salvation Army on Boston Road in Springfield on Monday afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD – A busload of volunteers from Hasbro Inc.’s Pawtucket, R.I. office arrived Monday to help the Salvation Army serve tornado victims.

Thirty employees spent the day unloading, sorting and bundling donations that have been pouring in to the Salvation Army since the June 1 tornadoes, which cut a 39-mile path from Westfield to Charlton.

The extra help was welcome at the charity’s Boston Road thrift and donation center, which has been dispensing everything from food, clothing and furniture to pillows, tooth brushes and toothpaste to tornado victims.

“It’s great – it’s really touching to have them here,” said Matthew D. Brownlie, the center’s assistant manager.

Dressed in blue Team Hasbro T-shirts, volunteers arrived just after 10:30 a.m., and were quickly put to work in the center’s back storage area. Each employee was given 2 or 3 volunteers to work with; by early afternoon, Hasbro volunteers were looking like experts – first sorting clothing by size and style, then hanging items on racks to be wheeled out to front display area.

“Tank tops, short sleeves, long sleeves,” said Matthew S. Putnam, Hasbro’s director of research and customer insight, explaining the proper sequence for hanging summer clothing styles.

Putnam has family living in Wilbraham, but said he would have volunteered anyway, given the extensive damage caused by the tornadoes. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said.

The volunteers were Hasbro’s latest contribution to the regional recovery effort. Forty employees from the Rhode Island office pitched in at the charity’s Liberty Street operation last week, and volunteers from Hasbro’s East Longmeadow plant have been working at both sites as well.

The toy maker donated $100,000 to the Red Cross on June 2, reflecting its broader philanthropic mission that includes helping Rhode Island children’s programs and recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters.

Hasbro pays the volunteers for a day of work, according to Karen M. Davis, vice president of community relations, who said the Springfield tornado is just one of many disaster and humanitarian causes embraced by the toy maker.

In other developments, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno on Tuesday will announce the leadership of the public-private partnership being formed to oversee a multi-year rebuilding effort in Springfield.

Two agencies – the Springfield Redevelopment Authority and DevelopSpringfield – will be involved in the recovery, Sarno said when he announced the plan on June 12.

On Monday, the U. S. Small Business Administration opened a tornado recovery center in Springfield to help businesses damaged by the tornadoes.

The office is located at the Springfield Technical Community College Technology Park at 1 Federal St., building 101; hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, until further notice.

Frank Scaggs, regional director of the SBA’s field operation centers, said the center will make it easier for storm victims to obtain low-interest loans. The technology park also houses the SBA branch office, the Small Business Development Center.

The deadline to return applications for physical property damage is August, 15; The deadline to return economic injury applications is March 15, 2012.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, stopped at the FEMA Disaster Center at Blake Middle School in Wilbraham Monday afternoon and said he had spoken Monday morning with Craig Fugate, top administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and was told that disaster loans will be made available for non-profit organizations damaged by the June 1 tornado.

“These loans should be available to both Springfield College and Cathedral High School,” Neal said.

Edward Dawson, public affairs specialist for the SBA, said that businesses, private non-profit organizations and individual homeowners and renters need to complete applications for the SBA loans.

Dawson said SBA has given out more than 1,000 SBA applications in Massachusetts since the tornado, but so far only 37 homeowners and seven business owners have completed and returned them.

The applications can be reviewed at the FEMA disaster sites, which have been set up in the communities affected by the tornado, Dawson said.

Staff reporter Suzanne McLaughlin contributed to this story.

South Hadley became a subject of international scrutiny when high school student Phoebe Prince took her life after being bullied.

File photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanA student at the M. Marcus Kiley Middle School in Springfield works on an anti-bullying poster.

SOUTH HADLEY – Preliminary results of an annual survey of youth behavior in Hampshire County reveal that South Hadley is making progress in bullying prevention.

Referred to as the “Bach Harrison Survey,” the project is carried out by the Strategic Initiative for Families and Youth of the Northampton-based Collaborative for Educational Services.

Bach Harrison LLC is a Utah-based survey research and evaluation service.

South Hadley students in grades 8, 10 and 12 responded to the survey in spring 2010 and again in spring 2011.

The survey indicated that in all Hampshire County communities, an average of 81 percent of high school students indicated they had not been bullied at all in the past year.

In South Hadley, the percentage of secondary school students who experienced a bully-free year was higher – 84.9.

Last year, 74.3 percent of South Hadley High School students said they had not been bullied at all, compared to the 84.9 percentage this year.

The questions about bullying were part of a larger survey on youth behavior.

Some may wonder that bullying still exists at all in schools, given the recent state-wide barrage of legal and curricular efforts to end bullying.

Gus Sayer

“It’s a thorny problem to get a handle on,” South Hadley Schools superintendent Gus Sayer said at a meeting of the South Hadley School Committee last week.

South Hadley became a subject of international scrutiny when high school student Phoebe Prince took her life in January 2010 after being bullied.

That same year, Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed an anti-bullying law, a 300-member anti-bullying task force met in South Hadley, and the South Hadley Schools produced a 40-page guide on anti-bullying strategies and policies.

The state defines bullying as harassment that is repeated, as opposed to a one-time conflict.

The Bach Harrison survey indicated that the number of South Hadley High School students who were bullied on four or more days dropped from 7.8 percent in 2010 to 4.4 percent in 2011.

These reports are preliminary, said assistant superintendent Christine Sweklo, and more data will be released as the survey is studied in depth.

Sayer is heartened by the report. “It doesn’t solve the problem,” he said, “but something has changed.”

Moran was put on paid administrative leave after being accused of sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on false pretenses.

The Republican | John SuchockiHolyoke provisional Fire Chief William P. Moran faces criminal charges related to making a false emergency call and sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on June 15.

Updates a story posted Monday at 4:43 p.m.

HOLYOKE – Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said he has instructed the State Police to apply for a criminal complaint against Acting Holyoke Fire Chief William P. Moran, charging him with making a false call to his own department.

The complaint application charges him with two misdemeanors. One is communicating false information to an emergency response facility. The other is being a disorderly person.

Moran was put on paid administrative leave two weeks ago after being accused of sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on June 15 on false pretenses.

During the response, one driver failed to pull over for the fire truck and created a four-car accident on Homestead Avenue and Pynchon Road. The driver was treated and released at Holyoke Medical Center; others were not injured.

According to the criminal complaint, Moran, a deputy fire chief and a firefighter were having lunch at a restaurant at the small strip mall at the corner of Homestead Avenue and Westfield Road when they saw two firefighters from the neighboring station on Homestead Avenue walk by and go into another establishment to pick up lunch, according to a written statement from Mastroianni.

Shortly after the firefighters walked into the store, Moran called the Holyoke Fire Department on his cell phone and asked a dispatcher to send a truck from the Homestead Avenue fire station to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside for an investigation. Firefighters respond to an investigation call by using emergency lights and sirens, the statement said.

“There was no need for investigation services at the Holyoke Mall and Chief Moran’s call was completely fictitious in nature,” Mastroianni said in the statement.

When the call came over the radio, Moran told his lunch companions to watch for the firefighters running back to the station. Instead a truck stopped in the strip mall and picked up the firefighters. The accident occurred a few minutes later.

Mastroianni said he did not know what Moran’s motives were for allegedly making the false report.

Moran’s lawyer, Jeffrey Morneau, said he had no comment on the complaints, but said they will continue through the court process.

Both charges are misdemeanors. Moran will be informed of the complaint application and a Holyoke District Court clerk-magistrate will schedule a show cause hearing. Parties will appear before a clerk-magistrate, who will decide whether or not to issue the complaint, Mastroianni said.

If convicted, the charge of communication of false information could carry a maximum sentence of 2 ½ years in prison or a fine of $1,000. The law also requires the defendant make restitution to the emergency response services provider for any costs, damages or loses.

Moran, a 27-year veteran whose brother served as Mayor Elaine A. Pluta’s election campaign manager two years ago, has had a series of discipline problems. Moran also served as

Hampden County DA Mark Mastroianni's Press Release Regarding Charges Filed Against Holyoke Fire Chief Willi...

a volunteer on the campaign, but had no decision-making roles.

“It is really something out of the blue. It is not something you deal with every day,” Pluta said.

She said the Fire Commission will deal with the new criminal complaint.

“I’m very confident the Fire Commission will be able to handle this and make the best judgment for the Fire Department,” she said.

The three-member commission, appointed by Pluta, has the sole authority to hire and fire employees and to take any disciplinary action, said Lisa A. Ball, the city solicitor. Its chairwoman, Priscilla F. Chesky, did not return calls for comment on Monday.

“It is completely their decision how they handle this,” Ball said of the three members.

The Fire Commission held an emergency meeting about Moran on Friday. Members revealed they took a unanimous vote but would not say what the issue was about.

Staff reporter Buffy Spencer contributed to this story.