”Commissioner O’Brien went to extraordinary lengths to placate important politicians by ensuring the success of their preferred candidate,” Ware wrote.
After the Legislature voted to give O’Brien extensive control over probation hiring in 2001, job requests poured in from dozens of legislators, both powerful and obscure. In one day alone, the department’s former legislative liaison testified, O’Brien received recommendations from six legislators for 17 jobs. The agency kept a list tracking the names of candidates and their patrons that ran 130 pages long.
One call to the commissioner’s office was especially blunt. Former state representative William McManus of Worcester left the message that he “has PO he wants to take care of, $70,000 salary range.”
Ware could not prove that any individual legislator explicitly asked for campaign contributions in exchange for probation jobs, which could constitute illegal bribery. But he said statistical evidence suggests that such exchanges may have happened.
Republican lawmakers called for immediate and dramatic action. Senator Bruce E. Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, said the report “reads like a novel that was written about corruption on Beacon Hill, and the problem is it’s not fiction.”
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo issued a statement last night saying: “The independent counsel’s report appears to make some very disturbing allegations. I will be closely reviewing its findings to determine if any legislative action is appropriate.”
Ware identified DeLeo and one of his top lieutenants, state Representative Thomas M. Petrolati, as two of the main beneficiaries of O’Brien’s patronage system. But Ware has said he doesn’t believe DeLeo broke the law. Petrolati, who was subpoenaed to testify, refused to cooperate with Ware’s investigation.
