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Boston Herald
Boston Herald
7 Feb 2024
Rick Sobey


NextImg:Ex-Massachusetts lawyer accused of trying to bribe Medford police chief for pot shop sentenced to prison

A former lawyer who was accused of trying to bribe the Medford police chief to get city approval for a pot shop has been sentenced to prison.

Somerville man Sean O’Donovan, 56, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

O’Donovan was also ordered to pay a $150,000 fine.

“Driven by greed, Mr. O’Donovan tried his hand at an old school bribery scheme in which he tried to bribe a police chief for the sake of lining his own pockets,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “Fortunately, his attempt was promptly thwarted by the integrity of the Police Chief he targeted, as he immediately reported him to federal authorities.”

O’Donovan was accused of trying to influence the Medford police chief in connection with the lawyer’s client’s recreational marijuana business.

At the time, the chief had recently been appointed to serve on a committee to rank such applications on behalf of the mayor, who would ultimately select three applicants to open retail marijuana stores in Medford.

The feds said O’Donovan approached the chief’s brother and offered to pay as much as $50,000 in tax-free cash to the brother in exchange for the chief’s support for the pot shop.

O’Donovan was slated to receive a stream of income of at least $100,000 annually from his client’s marijuana business if its Medford application was successful.

After the brother informed the chief about O’Donovan’s corrupt offer, the chief alerted federal authorities. Both the chief and his brother cooperated with the investigation.

O’Donovan never informed his client of the bribery scheme.

“Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can corrupt government officials for personal gain: your conduct will be uncovered, and will land you in federal prison — regardless of who you are,” Levy said.

In October, O’Donovan was convicted by a federal jury on two counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.