Friday, March 23, 2012

Today's Statement on the Indictments of Top Probation Officials

Today I released the following statement concerning the indictment of three high ranking Probation Department officials; former Commissioner John O'Brien, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III.

"The Indictments of top probation officials announced today by United States Attorney Ortiz are stinging reminders of just how bad things had become in our state’s probation department, and of the need for everything possible to be done to correct the deeply troubling issues identified in the Ware report.

The Legislature has passed important measures to reform the system, and now the criminal justice system is beginning to take actions to bring those responsible for reprehensible acts to justice. Neither of us should rest until anyone who corrupted our state government in this case is appropriately punished, and all possible reforms are enacted to ensure that this behavior never happens again.

I encourage US Attorney Ortiz to leave no stone unturned until each and everyone responsible for corrupting one of the state's most important public safety agencies are brought to justice in a timely and substantive fashion."

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