Nicholas James Mavroules (November 1, 1929 – December 25, 2003) was an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He served as Mayor of

Peabody, Massachusetts Peabody () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 54,481 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Peabody is located in the North Shore region of Massachusetts, and is known for its rich industrial histo ...

for a decade, then represented Peabody and much of the surrounding North Shore region in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1979 until 1993. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to 15 counts of racketeering and extortion and later served 15 months in prison.

Early life and career

Mavroules was born in

, November 1, 1929. He graduated from Peabody High School and was employed by

Sylvania Electric Products Sylvania Electric Products Inc. was an American manufacturer of diverse electrical equipment, including at various times radio transceivers, vacuum tubes, semiconductors, and mainframe computers such as MOBIDIC. They were one of the companies in ...

from 1949 to 1967 as supervisor of personnel. He was elected to the Peabody Council and served from 1958 to 1965. In 1966, he was elected mayor of Peabody and served until his election to Congress in 1978. He was a delegate to the

1976 Democratic National Convention The 1976 Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The assembled United States Democratic Party delegates at the convention nominated former Governor Jimmy Carter of Geor ...

Congress

In 1978, he won the election to take over the seat of retiring Rep. Michael J. Harrington. After his election, an FBI informant testified that he had offered Mavroules a $25,000 bribe when he was the mayor of Peabody in connection with liquor licensing. Mavroules denied the accusations and the FBI did not charge him in the matter. In Congress, he was a longtime member of the

House Armed Services Committee The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of Defe ...

and chaired the Subcommittee on Investigations, where he led the House investigation into the deadly

USS Iowa turret explosion On 19 April 1989, an explosion occurred within the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship during a fleet exercise in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's ...

. He also helped expose cost overruns in the Navy’s aircraft programs. He was also instrumental in making certain that the crew of obtained

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

status. During the 1980s, Marvoules was a leading supporter in the House for a

nuclear freeze The Nuclear Freeze campaign was a mass movement in the United States during the 1980s to secure an agreement between the U.S. and Soviet governments to halt the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons. Background The idea of simply ...

and an opponent of the

MX missile The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1985 to 2005. The missile could carry up to twelve Mark ...

. In August 1992, a federal grand jury indicted Mavroules on 17 charges of bribery, racketeering and extortion. The allegations against him included extortion, accepting illegal gifts and failing to report them on congressional disclosure and income tax forms.Ex-Congressman to Go to Prison

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, 3 April 1993. Retrieved 25 May 2017. He survived a Democratic primary election the following month, but was defeated by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Peter G. Torkildsen Peter Gerard Torkildsen (born January 28, 1958) is an American Republican Party politician from Massachusetts. He represented the 13th Essex district, including his hometown of Danvers, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1985 ...

Conviction

In April 1993, after his departure from Congress, Mavroules pleaded guilty to 15 of the 17 counts and was sentenced to a fifteen-month prison term. At his sentencing, he apologized to his family "who have endured enormous, enormous pain" and to supporters and friends "for any hurt I have brought upon them"., 6 July 1994 , Mavroules moves to halfway house , Former congressman will finish his sentence in Boston , Davis Armstrong , Globe Staff
He served his prison term at the Federal Correctional Institution, McKean, federal penitentiary at Bedford, Pennsylvania
.

Death

Mavroules died on December 25, 2003, in Salem, Massachusetts after gastric surgery.http://www.boston.com, 12/26/03, He was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery,

. Over 6,000 people attended his wake and funeral which was held at St. Vasilios Church

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...

church in Peabody. Several current and former members of Congress attended the services. The eulogy at the funeral mass was offered by

Rudy de Leon Rupert "Rudy" Frank de Leon Jr. (born August 28, 1952) is an American former senior Department of Defense official, military adviser, lobbyist, and foreign policy adviser. He served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense, described as the "second-highe ...

, a former staffer. At the graveside service, another eulogy was made by local reporter and talk show host

Dan Rea Dan Rea is the conservative-leaning host of "NightSide with Dan Rea" WBZ radio, following the death of Paul Sullivan. Education and background A graduate of Boston Latin School (Class of 1966), Boston State College (English major) and Boston Un ...

References

External links