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Thomas Francis Reilly (born February 14, 1942) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 45th
Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder al ...
. He was born in
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
to Irish
immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...
parents. He was one of three candidates who sought the Democratic nomination for
governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachuset ...
in the 2006 election. Former
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...
Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...
won the party's nomination and the general election, defeating Reilly and businessman Chris Gabrieli.


Early life

A native of
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
, he described himself as a "misguided youth" the year his father, Mortimer "Murty" Reilly, was found dead at home from a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
when Reilly was 16. He was arrested for public drunkenness when he was 20. By age 22, he was focused with driving ambition, much to the credit of his friend
Wayne Budd Wayne Budd (born November 18, 1941 in Springfield, Massachusetts) is senior counsel at Goodwin Procter, in the firm's Litigation Department, where he specializes in advising clients on business and commercial litigation matters. Past senior exec ...
's father, an ex-
Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...
turned policeman in Springfield who took him under his wing and encouraged him to go to school.


Education

Reilly attended Cathedral High School in
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
. He graduated in 1959. After graduating high school, he went off to college in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
at St. Francis Xavier University. He stayed there only a year, transferring to
American International College American International College (AIC) is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who soug ...
in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he graduated on June 7, 1964. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.


Personal life

In July 1966, Reilly married Ruth Gammons (b. 1941), now a retired schoolteacher. The couple have three children.


Later life & legal career

He moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for two years with the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
. For one year, Reilly lived in
Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States per ...
, where he worked with the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
as a Labor Relations Representative until 1967. He attended
Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With approximately 800 stud ...
and received his JD in June 1970. Reilly worked for two years as a prosecutor in the state Attorney General's
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...
division. He worked for four years as a Suffolk County prosecutor. In 1976, Reilly and Budd formed "Budd and Reilly", a Boston-based law firm. The firm became the largest minority-dominated firm in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
.


Political career

From 1978 to 1985 he served on the Watertown Licensing Board in
Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Waterto ...
.Thomas F. Reilly - Special Counsel
/ref> He left the law firm in 1983 to work in Middlesex County
District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a ...
Scott Harshbarger Luther Scott Harshbarger (born December 1, 1941) is an American attorney and Democratic politician. He served as the 56th Massachusetts Attorney General from 1991 to 1999. In 1998, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts but ...
's administration as First Assistant District Attorney. In 1990, Reilly was elected Middlesex County District Attorney. He was reelected for a second term. He ran for attorney general in
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
against state Senator
Lois Pines Lois Pines is an American politician who served in the Massachusetts General Court and was a candidate for statewide office four times. Early life Pines was born on August 16, 1940 in Malden, Massachusetts. She graduated from Barnard College in ...
and won the Democratic Primary. He defeated Republican Brad Bailey in the November election. In the winter of 2001–02, he conducted a "very public investigation" into the sale of the Boston Red Sox to a group led by John W. Henry. Reilly made "negative comments about the process, Major League Baseball's involvement in the sale, and threatened to block the transaction. Eventually the Red Sox limited partners, the Henry/Werner group, and Reilly negotiated a settlement, in which Reilly agreed to allow the sale to proceed, the Henry/Werner group agreed to create their own charitable foundation, and the Red Sox limited partners agreed to give $10 million more to the Yawkey Foundation." The existence of "higher bids from Charles F. Dolan ($750 million), chairman of Cablevision, and a group headed by Miles Prentice ($755 million)" were the apparent pretext for Reilly's involvement, as the winning bid from Henry's group only totalled $660 million. He was reelected for a second term in
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
. On November 30, 2005 he said that he was conducting an investigation of
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...
over their use of the XCP Digital Rights Management DRM on Sony audio CDs. In January 2006, he came under fire for allegedly impeding an investigation into an October 2005 automobile crash which left two
Southborough, Massachusetts Southborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It incorporates the villages of Cordaville, Fayville, and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps, though ...
teens dead, and another teen injured. He has come under fire from gun rights advocates for allegedly abusing his regulatory authority for political purposes. On January 24, 2006, Reilly officially kicked off his first gubernatorial campaign in Springfield at his alma mater
American International College American International College (AIC) is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who soug ...
. He finished third in the primary on September 19, 2006. His opponent, Deval Patrick, went on to win the general election.


Post-political career

He served as President and later a member of the board of directors of the Watertown Boys & Girls Club. He now serves as special counsel with the law firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth. In 2018 he was handpicked by the Massachusetts State Police to lead an investigation into a car crash that occurred on August 24, 2017 in
Reading, Massachusetts Reading ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 census. History Settlement and American independence Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original settl ...
.State police tap ex-AG Tom Riley to probe 2017 crash
/ref>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Thomas 1942 births Living people Boston College Law School alumni American people of Irish descent Massachusetts Attorneys General District attorneys in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Massachusetts Democrats 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers American International College alumni