Former Massachusetts Lawyer Sean O’Donovan Convicted In Federal Court Of Bribing Medford Police Chief
A federal jury has convicted a former Massachusetts lawyer of bribing the chief of police of Medford, Massachusetts. Former lawyer Sean O’Donovan paid the bribe to obtain approval for a client to sell recreational marijuana.
Court documents show O’Donovan paid a bribe to influence the Medford police chief in connection with O’Donovan’s client’s recreational marijuana business.
O’Donovan approached a close relative of the chief and offered to pay the friend $25,000 to speak with the chief. O’Donovan wanted to discuss his client’s anticipated application to sell recreational marijuana in Medford.
At the time, the chief had recently been appointed to serve on a committee to review applications on behalf of Medford’s mayor. The committee would ultimately select three applicants to open retail marijuana stores in Medford. As a result, the chief immediately alerted federal authorities after learning of O’Donovan’s offer.
O’Donovan believed he had an agreement with Individual 1 and the chief. As a result, he offered to pay the chief’s friend approximately $25,000 in exchange for the chief’s favorable action on his client’s application.
Specifically, O’Donovan sought to have the chief favorably approve his client’s application. He also advised and pressured the mayor to select the client to open a retail marijuana store in Medford.
O’Donovan was expecting an income of at least $100,000 annually from his client’s marijuana business if successful. It was also discovered O’Donovan never informed his client of the bribery scheme.
The jury convicted O’Donovan of two counts of wire fraud and one count of bribery. The court has scheduled a sentencing hearing on Feb. 7, 2024. O’Donovan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count. In addition, he also faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the federal funds bribery count.
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