US District Court Judge William Young worked out a deal on Wednesday that will allow Kathleen Petrolati, the wife of state Rep. Thomas Petrolati, to testify at the trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides.
The deal gives immunity to Petrolati, allowing her to testify about her qualifications for a job with the Probation Department’s Electronic Monitoring Office but little else. Prosecutors agreed not to explore how she heard about the job or the fact she was sponsored by then-House Speaker Thomas Finneran. Rep. Petrolati has been described during the trial as being actively involved in legislative patronage at the Probation Department.
In a motion filed by Assistant US Attorney William Fisher, he said Petrolati’s testimony is crucial in proving the existence of a rigged hiring system that is the basis for the conspiracy, bribery, and racketeering charges against O’Brien and two top deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III.
“Ms. Petrolati will testify that at the time she applied for this management position, a position that entailed developing and initiating a statewide electronic monitoring program, she had no college degree, possessed no allied service experience, and no experience working in the fields of criminal justice or law enforcement,” Fisher wrote. “[She] will admit that her only knowledge of probation, or the subject of electronic monitoring, was based on materials she reviewed over the Internet.”
Prosecutors say Petrolati currently makes about $108,000 a year and has never provided a reference on any Probation Department job application.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Young told Petrolati’s attorney, William Jennings, to have his client ready to testify.
“She’s been immunized,” Young said. “I don’t recognize any Fifth Amendment privilege she has. He [Rep. Petrolati] has her testimonial immunity. We will not use her testimony against him.”
OTHER PROBATION NEWS
More time — Young who said he was not inclined to grant a request from prosecutors for more time to present their case, but he said he would delay a decision until after a hearing on Monday morning. Assistant US Attorney Fred Wyshak said much of the additional time would be devoted to proving the government’s case against Burke. He said one witness who scored candidates during job interviews will testify the “the scoring sheet was not in his handwriting.”
Meet the Author
Senior Investigative Reporter, CommonWealth
About Jack Sullivan
Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe.
He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment.
Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members.
At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce.
About Jack Sullivan
Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe.
He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment.
Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members.
At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce.
“The inference is that Burke falsified it?” Young asked.
“The witness will say that,” Wyshak responded.
