BOSTON (WHDH) - A Somerville attorney was arrested after allegedly bribing the Medford police chief to secure local approval for a cannabis dispensary.
Sean O’Donovan, 54, was indicted on two counts on honest services wire fraud and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. He appeared in federal court in Boston Friday.
“This case is about attempted corruption of government officials. I commend the Chief of Police in Medford for reporting this illegal behavior to the FBI immediately,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “We must ensure that greed and unethical conduct do not undermine the proper functioning of city governments across our Commonwealth. This prosecution does just that.”
According to the indictment, in late 2018, a company involved in the cultivation and retail sale of medical and recreational marijuana hired O’Donovan as a consultant to assist in obtaining a Host Community Agreement (HCA) with the City of Medford– a requirement to get a license and open a cannabis retail store.
In 2020, the city established a local Cannabis Advisory Committee, which included the Medford chief of police. This committee is responsible for reviewing, interviewing and ranking the retail applicants, then the mayor has the final say on which applicants are selected.
In February 2021, O’Donovan allegedly approached an unidentified close relative of the chief and offered to pay them $25,000 to get the chief’s favorable action on the client’s application. He specifically asked the relative to ask the chief to pressure the mayor to enter into an HCA with the client.
O’Donovan also allegedly took steps to conceal the true purpose of the $25,000 payment, calling it a loan, and suggested to pay it in cash without a contract to eliminate a “paper trail.” Around October 11, 2021, he met with the relative and allegedly gave them $2,000 as a cash down payment on the bribe. O’Donovan was slated to receive at least $100,000 annually from the client’s marijuana business if the application had been approved.
He allegedly never told the client about the agreement. The client also rejected O’Donovan’s suggestion to hire the relative as a consultant. The client rejected the proposal, telling O’Donovan that they were an “above board company.”
The charge of honest services wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
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