[From article]
It’s different here in Massachusetts — our cops are always on the prowl, not for Mr. Big, but for Mr. Small. Why go after Mr. Big? He could retaliate, come after your job or your family or your pension. Better to chase the miscreants who can’t pull strings to save themselves from a good long stretch in the can.
The latest example of this is ex-Rep. John George, who moved Wednesday from Dartmouth to the federal medical lockup at Devens, where he will
reside until Oct. 20, 2020, under his new Bureau of Prisons number 96292-038.
George, a farmer by trade, richly deserves his fate. As the head of a small bus company in Bristol County, he was convicted of purloining $688,000 in federal funds. The judge also ordered him to forfeit $1.3 million.
Does Farmer John deserve such a lengthy sentence? Absolutely. Actually, he deserves a few more months just for the unsuccessful motion his lawyer wrote last week to the First Circuit Court of Appeals:
“As a life-long observer of Nature, George knows that if he begins serving his 70-month sentence … his present crops at the farm will wither and, without him available, his farm will be untilled, uncared for and (will) become fallow.”
[. . .]
Think about all the pols who have been locked up or at least paid stiff fines in recent years. Rep. Brian Wallace, fined $35,000 for failing to properly itemize purchases of Milk Duds and Twinkies on his campaign finance reports. Sen. Anthony Galluccio, packed off to the Billerica House of Correction for ingesting bad ice cubes. Rep. Stat Smith, a thug from Everett, convicted of behaving like a thug from Everett. Don’t forget small-time grifters Dianne Wilkerson and City Councilor Chuck “Superfly” Turner, and of course girlfriend-beater Carlos Henriquez.
What do all these sleazy hacks have in common? None of them was ever known as Mr. Big. Calling them Mr. Small would have been a promotion.
[. . .]
two Massachusetts legislators — state Sen. A. Frank Foster of Mattapan and House Majority Leader John F.X. Davoren of Milford [. . .] took $25,000 from the Mafia to set up a company to distribute Tropicana orange juice to school districts reliant on state funds. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. But they were state reps, which means they were idiots. They quickly went broke. Patriarca was not amused.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/howie_carr/2015/09/carr_only_small_fry_canned_in_mass
Carr: Only small fry canned in Mass.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
By: Howie Carr
Boston Herald
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