LUDLOW, Mass.
Police lieutenant denies stealing drug evidence
A high-ranking Ludlow police officer has been charged with stealing drugs from the department’s evidence locker.
Lt. Thomas Foye pleaded not guilty Thursday in Palmer District Court to charges of cocaine possession and larceny of a drug. He was released without bail.
According to court documents, video surveillance captures the 49-year-old Foye entering the locked narcotics locker at the police station, where he appears to handle and open evidence bags.
The department started an internal investigation about a week ago and passed the findings on to the state attorney general’s office.
Interim Chief Pablo Madera said he was “devastated” by the arrest of a valued colleague he helped train.
Foye had expressed interest in the chief’s job.
WOODSTOCK, Vt.
High school’s arena needs $125,000 to remain solvent
A sports complex in Woodstock, Vt., that faces an uncertain future is seeking $125,000 to keep running.
The Woodstock Union Arena is owned by the local high school and includes a popular ice hockey rink. But officials said it’s been running in the red for years.
The board of directors has proposed dipping into the $450,000 endowment, Vermont Public Radio reported.
But the endowment’s trustees and school board did not agree that was the best solution at a meeting this week.
LOWELL, Mass.
Former Tewksbury worker admits stealing $50,000
A former Tewksbury town employee has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $50,000 from the town’s recreation department to support her drug habit.
Lauren Bibo Morris, 32, entered her plea in Lowell District Court on Thursday to larceny charges. The recreation center’s former business manager admitted in court to stealing more than $31,000 in 2009 and more than $20,000 in 2010. A complaint was brought forward in 2012.
Prosecutors said her actions stemmed from her drug addiction. Morris told police she needed the money to support her Oxycontin addiction and she would spend upward of $80 a pill for sometimes several pills a day.
The Sun reported that the embezzlement scheme took place largely in the form of falsified summer camp registrations.
BOSTON
Asian gang’s white leader ordered to forfeit $2 million
The white leader of an Asian gang who earned the nickname “White Devil John” has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
John Willis, 42, was also ordered Thursday in U.S. District Court to forfeit $2 million, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said.
Willis, affiliated with the Ping On gang, pleaded guilty in March following a lengthy investigation that led to charges against almost 30 gang members and their associates from Boston’s Chinatown.
“Not only did this investigation expose a world of illegal gambling, prostitution and extortion, but also revealed a significant Oxycodone distribution operation,” Ortiz said. “This case significantly disrupted the flow of this highly-addictive, dangerous heroin substitute which has been responsible for numerous deaths in Massachusetts.”
Willis used proceeds from drug sales to fund a lavish lifestyle of “parties, nightclubs, strip joints and women,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.
State chemist who resigned during probe gets trial date
The former state chemist accused of tampering with evidence in drug cases has a trial date.
A judge Friday in Boston scheduled a Jan. 6 trial date for Annie Dookhan, whose prosecution sent ripples through Massachusetts’ criminal justice system. The trial will cover charges she faces out of Boston that were part of a 27-count indictment last year.
The 35-year-old Franklin resident previously pleaded not guilty to charges including obstruction of justice and perjury stemming from cases in six counties.
Authorities have said Dookhan tested more than 60,000 drug samples involving 34,000 defendants at Hinton state lab. State police closed the lab last summer, months after Dookhan’s resignation during an internal probe by public health officials.
At least 337 state prison inmates have been released as a result of Dookhan’s case, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said Friday.
GREENFIELD, N.H.
Mountain bike, trail run drawing 500 participants
More than 500 athletes from across the country and Canada are getting ready to participate in the seventh annual Hampshire 100, a high-endurance mountain bike and trail run in Greenfield to benefit the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center and other groups.
Proceeds from the events Sunday will support accessible recreation and sports programs.
There are 100-mile and 100-kilometer bike races, and a first-time 100-kilometer trail run. Part of that run is on Crotched Mountain’s accessible trail system.
Donations help Crotched Mountain purchase specialized adaptive equipment, provide scholarships, add new programs and expand accessible recreation opportunities for people of all abilities in the Greater Monadnock area and New Hampshire.
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