John J. O'Brien is a former commissioner of the
Massachusetts Probation Service. He was convicted of four counts of
mail fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
, and one count of
racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
, and one count of conspiracy. The verdict was pronounced on July 24, 2014, by a 12-member federal jury of the U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts. US District Court Judge
William G. Young was the presiding judge. The jury deliberated for seven days and the case lasted two months.
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The case centered on patronage hiring at the Massachusetts Probation Department during Mr. O'Brien's tenure as commissioner.
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On December 19, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the conviction of O'Brien and ordered acquittals on all counts due to insufficiency of evidence. The Court of Appeals also admonished the lower court for the allowance of a high number of juror questions at trial.
Further reading
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References
Massachusetts government officials convicted of crimes
Overturned convictions in the United States
Probation and parole officers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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