UNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURT
DISTRICTOFMASSACHUSETTSUNITEDSTATESOF
AMERICA
(1)SHELLEYM.RICHMONDJOSEPHand
(2)WESLEYMACGREGOR,
Defendants
//
riminal
No
j
Violations:
CountOne:ConspiracytoObstructJustice
18U.S.C.
§1512(k))CountTwo:Obstruction
of
Justice;Aidingand
Abetting
(18U.S.C.§1512(c)(2);18U.S.C.§2)
Count
Three:
Obstruction
of
a
Federal
Proceeding;AidingandAbetting
(18U.S.C.§1505;18U.S.C.
§2
CountFour:Perjury(18U.S.C.§1623)
INDICTMENT
At
all
timesrelevant
to
this
Indictment:Introduction
1.TheUnitedStatesDepartment
of
HomelandSecurity,ImmigrationandCustoms
Enforcement( ICE )wasthe
federal
governmental
agency
chargedwithenforcingfederal
immigration
lawinthe
UnitedStates
ICE s
dutiesincludedconductingfederalremoval
proceedings,which
encompassed
among
otherthings,identifying,apprehending,andinitiatingthe
removal
processofaliensintheUnitedStates,whoweresubjecttoImmigrationCourtorother
administrativelyissuedfinalorders
of
removal.
Case 1:19-cr-10141-LTS Document 1 Filed 04/25/19 Page 1 of 19
2.The
Newton
District
Court NDC
or
Courthoxise )
wasaDistrict
Court
within
MiddlesexCounty,Massachusetts,
that
hadtwo
courtrooms,
aclerk s
office,
a
probation
office,
and
a
lockup
facility,which
was
situated
on
thebottom
level
of
the
Courthouse.TheNDC
had
one
to
two
assigned
District
CourtJudgespresidingovercourtmatters,which
includedcertain
criminal,
civil,
housing,
juvenile,
and
other
types
of
cases
imder
Massachusetts
state
or
local
laws.
3.
DefendantShelley
M.
RichmondJOSEPH
was
appointed
asa
Massachusetts
District
Court
Judge
on
or
aboutNovember
6,
2017,andwas
thereafter
assigned
to
preside
at
various
District
Courts
in
Middlesex
County,
including
NDC,
in
accordancewith
a
monthly
assignment
schedule.DefendantJOSEPH
had
presided
asthe
Judge
at
NDC
on
severaloccasions
prior
to
April
2,2018.
Prior
to
herappointment,defendant
JOSEPH
was
an
experiencedNewton-basedcriminaldefenseattorney,
who
was
a
partner
ina
small
law
practice,
and
who
had
previouslylectured
atlaw
schoolsandprofessionallegaleducationseminars
on
criminaland
civil
practice.
Asa
District
CourtJudge,
defendant
JOSEPH
had
the
authorityto,
among
otherthings,arraigncriminaldefendants,
setbail,detainorreleasedefendants,andcontrolothercourtroomproceedings.
4.
Defendant
WesleyMACGREGOR
wasaMassachusettsTrial
Court
Officer
since
1993
and
was
assigned
tothe
NDC
sinceapproximately
2016.
Asan
NDC
CourtOfficer,
defendant
MACGREGORwasauthorizedtotakecustodyofdefendantswithintheNDC,andhadsecurity
cardaccess
tothe
entry
andexit
doors
tothe
lowerlevelNDClockupfacility,
including
the
rear,
sally-portexittothelockup.
5.
The
defense
attomey(the
Defense
Attorney )wasa
criminal
defense
lawyer
who
regularly
represented
criminaldefendants
atthe
NDC.The
DefenseAttomey
was
familiarwith
Case 1:19-cr-10141-LTS Document 1 Filed 04/25/19 Page 2 of 19
defendantJOSEPHasajudgeanddefenselawyer,andwithdefendantMACGREGORfrom
frequentappearancesattheNDC.
6.Thealiensubject( A.S. )wasarrestedonMarch30,2018byNewtonPoliceandcharged
underMassachusettsGeneralLawwithbeingafugitivefromjusticefromPennsylvania(the
M.G.L.FugitiveCharge or MGLCount1 )andnarcoticspossession(the M.G.L.Drug
Charges
or
MGL
Counts
2and3, togetherwith
MGL.
Count
1,the
M.G.L.Charges .
On
April
2,2018,
A.S.was
arraigned
onthe
M.G.L.
Charges
inthe
NDC
beforedefendant
JOSEPH.
A.S.retainedtheDefenseAttorneyasA.S. slawyerfortheNDCproceedings.
Federal
I
Proceedings
7.Fingerprintsof
A.S.
takenby
NewtonPolice
on
March
30,2018andsubmittedtoanational
lawenforcementdatabaserevealedthatA.S.hadbeenpreviouslydeportedfromtheUnitedStates
by
federal
immigrationofficials
in
2003
and
again
in
2007.
Federal
immigration
records
revealedthat,
upon
A.S. slast
removal,
a
federalimmigrationofficial
had
issued
an
order
that
prohibited
A.S.fromenteringtheUnitedStatesforaperiod
of
twentyyears,thatis,rmtil2027.
8.AfterlearningofA.S. sarrestbyNewtonPolice,onoraboutMarch30,2018,anICE
ImmigrationOfficerissuedafederalImmigrationDetainer-NoticeofAction(the Detainer ),
andaWarrantofRemoval(the Warrant )forA.S.toNewtonPolice.TheDetainerrequested
thatNewton
Police:
(i)notifyICEpriortoanyreleaseofA.S.;(ii)relaytheDetainertoanyotherlawenforcement
agency
towhomNewtonPolicetransferred
A.S.;
and(iii)maintaincustodyofA.S.forupto48
hours
forICEtotake
custody.
TheWarrantstatedthatA.S.wassubjectto
removalfromtheUnitedStatesbaseduponafinalorderbyadesignatedofficial,andthatany
Case 1:19-cr-10141-LTS Document 1 Filed 04/25/19 Page 3 of 19