Ronald Conrad MacKenzie
(May 3, 1934 – October 29, 2020) was an American attorney and Republican politician who served in the
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...
from 1967 to 1977. He resigned following his conviction for extortion, conspiracy, and other related offenses.
Early life and education
MacKenzie was born on May 3, 1934 in
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...
.
He graduated from
Winchester High School and went on to earn a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in Economics from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
in 1956.
He served as First Lieutenant in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
.
Prior to becoming a legislator, MacKenzie sold insurance. In 1976, MacKenzie graduated from
Suffolk University Law School
Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...
.
Political career
Beginnings
In 1963 MacKenzie served as chairman of a signature drive for an initiative petition drive to weaken the power of the
Massachusetts Governor's Council
The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...
. The drive was successful and the question appeared on the ballot in 1964. It failed, 1,059,352 votes to 625,194.
In 1964, MacKenzie challenged incumbent Democratic state senator
James J. Long in the 7th
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
District. He lost 53% to 47%. In 1966, MacKenzie challenged Long again. This time, MacKenzie won with 55% of the vote. In the 1970 election, MacKenzie defeated future
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
mayor and
Governor of Tennessee
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state.
The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...
Phil Bredesen
Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in 20 ...
.
Proposed legislation
In 1969, MacKenzie and Representative
John Mella
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
sponsored a plan to expand
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...
. Their bill would have granted the
Boston Redevelopment Authority
The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial de ...
the power to purchase land outside Fenway Park and sell it to a private developer. The park's capacity would have been raised to 50,000 by knocking out the
Green Monster
The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters.
Overview
The wall was part ...
and installing double-decker bleachers throughout the park.
In addition to housing the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
, the expanded stadium would have been home to the
Boston Patriots
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...
.
In November of that year, MacKenzie filed legislation to select a 4,000 acre (1,600 ha) site for the construction of a
planned community
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
that could house 250,000 people. Also in 1969, MacKenzie filed a bill that would make possession of
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
a misdemeanor rather than a felony.
Leadership positions
From 1971 to 1977, MacKenzie served as Assistant Minority Floor Leader.
In 1972 he chaired a special legislative committee that studied the effect salting roads had on water sources. The committee recommended that the Department of Health control the storage of de-icing materials and ban their use if water sources become endangered. It also recommended that all levels of government be required to report how much salt they use.
MBM scandal
On August 13, 1976 a grand jury indicted MacKenzie and fellow Senator
Joseph DiCarlo
Joseph J. C. DiCarlo (March 21, 1936 – October 22, 2020) was an American politician who served in both houses of the Massachusetts General Court. He was expelled from the Senate in 1977 after he was convicted of extortion. He was the first Massa ...
on charges that they extorted $40,000 from a consulting company. According to the indictment, MacKenzie and DiCarlo threatened McKee-Berger-Mansueto, Inc. (MBM), the consulting company supervising construction of the
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus Un ...
campus at
Columbia Point
Columbia Point is a high mountain summit of the Crestones in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The thirteener is located east by south ( bearing 102°) of the Town of Crestone in Saguache County, Colorad ...
, with an unfavorable report from the legislative committee investigating their contract unless they were paid. MacKenzie and DiCarlo were charged with violating the
Hobbs Act
The Hobbs Act, named after United States Representative Sam Hobbs ( D- AL) and codified at , is a United States federal law enacted in 1946 that provides:
Section 1951 also proscribes conspiracy to commit robbery or extortion without referen ...
, which forbids extortion by public officials, and the
Travel Act
The Travel Act or International Travel Act of 1961, , is a Federal criminal statute which forbids the use of the U.S. mail, or interstate or foreign travel, for the purpose of engaging in certain specified criminal acts.
The Senate legislation w ...
, which forbids crossing state lines for the purpose of extortion. On February 25, 1977, they were found guilty of all charges. MacKenzie was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $5,000.
Three days after his conviction for extortion, on February 28, MacKenzie resigned as Assistant Minority Floor Leader. However, he refused to resign his Senate seat. The conduct of MacKenzie and DiCarlo was referred to the newly formed Senate Ethics Committee, and on March 31, 1977, the day before the committee was to issue its report, MacKenzie resigned from the Senate.
Post-political career
MacKenzie served ten months at the
Federal Correctional Institution in Allenwood. After his release in October 1978 he did paralegal work in the offices of attorney Richard M. Riley and State Senator
Michael LoPresti Jr. On August 19, 1981 the Burlington Board of Selectmen voted 3 to 2 to make MacKenzie the town's Director of Veterans' Services. In December 1983 the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners ruled that MacKenzie was eligible to be a lawyer in spite of his conviction.
He went on to pass the bar and practice law part-time. On June 24, 1991, the Board of Selectmen voted 3 to 2 against Mackenzie's reappointment as Director of Veterans' Services on the grounds that they did not want him to practice law while serving as the town's veterans' agent. MacKenzie operated a law practice in Burlington. MacKenzie died on October 29, 2020.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacKenzie, Ronald
1934 births
2020 deaths
Dartmouth College alumni
Suffolk University Law School alumni
Massachusetts lawyers
Republican Party Massachusetts state senators
People from Burlington, Massachusetts
People from Winchester, Massachusetts
Politicians convicted of extortion under color of official right
Politicians convicted under the Travel Act
Massachusetts politicians convicted of crimes
Winchester High School (Massachusetts) alumni