LAWRENCE — The investigation into "financial improprieties" in the Lawrence School Department is not over and more indictments are possible, District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said yesterday after Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy was arraigned on charges of fraud, embezzlement and illegal possession of alcohol.
Local and state police investigators and auditors have gone through reams of documents and evidence taken from 15 computers seized from Laboy's office and home last June. A grand jury was twice extended to hear witness testimony, but there's more work to be done, Blodgett said.
"We will go wherever the evidence leads us ... and we will seek indictments when appropriate," Blodgett said.
"This has been a very intense and expansive investigation already. But I want to get it out there that this isn't over," he said.
Police Chief John Romero agreed, saying the investigation "has continually mushroomed as more and more information became available. It's obviously going to take us beyond that first grand jury as we expand the investigation further and further."
Laboy is charged, in part, with using on-the-clock school employees to run personal errands, drive his son and grandchildren around, and do work on his Methuen home. He's also accused of having School Department employees design menus and magnets for a pizza shop he owns in Methuen.
Laboy, looking trimmer than when he was suspended with pay last June, was released on personal recognizance after his arraignment in Salem Superior Court yesterday.
Judge John Lu ordered him to surrender his passport and report to the Lawrence Police Department for fingerprinting and booking.
Also arraigned yesterday were three others indicted Tuesday: Mark Rivera, Laboy's former special assistant; former mayoral candidate Israel Reyes, and Laboy's son Wilfredo Laboy II. They also were released on personal recognizance, ordered to surrender passports, and report to the station for fingerprinting and booking.
The charges against Rivera stem from alleged abuses of the School Department's graphic design department and $489,000 printing press to help political candidates and the Association of Latin American Superintendents, of which Laboy was president in 2005.
Laboy II was charged with perjury.
As Laboy arrived and left the courthouse yesterday, his wife used an umbrella to shelter him from media. After the arraignment, his attorney, Scott Gleason of Haverhill, escorted him to a waiting car on Federal Street.
"He will be cleared," Gleason told reporters. "He will be found innocent of all charges."
Laboy faces up to 10 years in jail on each of the eight fraud and embezzlement charges and 30 days in jail on the alcohol charge. Any conviction could jeopardize Laboy's publicly funded pension.
The charges, Gleason told reporters, are upsetting and very troubling for Laboy, who he said was an outstanding educator for the city who produced "great results, extraordinary results."
"Not a penny has been taken," Gleason said.
Investigators charged Laboy with illegal possession of alcohol after 16 bottles of liquor were found in an armoire in his School Department office. But Gleason referred to the alcohol as "gifts."
"A bottle of alcohol has now become a felony charge," he said.
Blodgett, in response, said the alcohol charge wouldn't have been filed "if we didn't feel there was a violation of the law."
Rivera is accused of instructing School Department graphic designers to produce literature and fliers for former Rep. William Lantigua, who is now mayor; state Rep. Barry Finegold, who ran for Congress in 2007; Reyes, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last fall; and local School Committee candidates Peter Larocque, Greg Morris, Priscilla Baez, who is Rivera's sister, and Omaira Mejia.
Rivera also told the school designers to produce and print items for the Association of Latin American Superintendents, according to the indictments.
Reyes is charged with directing the School Department to produce campaign literature for himself and Finegold, prosecutors said.
Blodgett yesterday noted that many of the candidates were unaware the printing jobs were done with school resources on their behalf. Both Finegold and Lantigua have denied any knowledge. Larocque apologized and reimbursed the school district for $100 in printing expenses.
All four are expected back in court in April for pretrial conferences.
ÔÇæÔÇæÔÇæ
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
