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A former Massachusetts attorney who was found guilty of trying to bribe the Medford police chief to approve a company’s marijuana license has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Sean O’Donovan was arrested in June 2022 in what prosecutors at the time called a “pay-to-play scheme” in which he gave $25,000 to someone who considered an application for a new marijuana facility.
Prosecutors said O’Donovan was hired by a marijuana growing and selling company in 2018 to get Medford’s approval as the state began legalizing marijuana. The lawyer allegedly offered a relative of the police chief $25,000 to meet with the police chief in February 2021, and the police chief immediately reported the matter to federal authorities.
Prosecutors said the company, which declined to be named and was unaware of the scheme, rejected Mr. O’Donovan’s offer to hire relatives several months later.
“Driven by greed, Mr. O’Donovan engaged in an old-fashioned bribery scheme to bribe police chiefs to line his own pockets,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement Wednesday. “Fortunately, his attempt was quickly thwarted by the integrity of the police chief he targeted, who immediately alerted federal authorities.”
Mr O’Donovan was found guilty of wire fraud and bribery in October. Prosecutors say he faces three years of supervised release after his prison sentence and must pay a $150,000 fine.
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