LAWRENCE — Long before last week's indictments and Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy's arraignment on fraud and embezzlement charges, there were years of stories and innuendo about corruption in the School Department.
The allegations, which came in the form of anonymous letters and phone tips, touched on everything from heavy-handed treatment of teachers and staff to blatant misuse of public resources with the district's $489,000 printing press, authorities said.
The reports percolated for years, until last spring, when local police learned School Department computers and software were being used to run illegal background checks on local political candidates, school and city workers, movie stars, sports celebrities and more.
It was then that School Committee member Samuel Reyes, brother of failed mayoral candidate Israel Reyes, went to District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office. He was armed with evidence that he believed showed the department's printing press was being used to produce free brochures, fliers and posters for political candidates.
Blodgett's office sent Reyes back to Lawrence, telling him to file a report with local police. He did, putting what police described as "specificity" to months of conjecture and triggering a massive probe into "financial improprieties" in the School Department.
"That day, we launched an investigation, and the case continued to grow and grow," Lawrence police Chief John Romero said. "Obviously, the rumors were out there. But this was the first time someone provided us with information we were able to corroborate."
In June, police raided Laboy's office and home, and he was placed on paid leave from his $200,000 per year job. Now, nine months later, local and state police and state auditors are entrenched in a major public corruption case involving Laboy. He was suspended by the School Committee without pay on Thursday night, and Mayor William Lantigua has vowed to fire the 10-year Lawrence superintendent.
Laboy and three others were arraigned Thursday. But police said this may be just the first round of charges in the continuing case.
"As one door closed, another opened," said Blodgett, describing the case to date. "We have used a tremendous amount of resources, both in time and expenses."
Laboy pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in Superior Court Thursday. Judge John Lu released him on personal recognizance, ordering him to surrender his passport and report to the Lawrence Police Department for booking and fingerprinting, which he did around noon yesterday.
Also arraigned, released without bail and ordered to surrender passports were Laboy's former special assistant, Mark Rivera, and Israel Reyes, who together were charged with multiple counts of larceny of property over $250. Laboy's son, Wilfredo Laboy II, was charged with perjury. All three pleaded not guilty and were ordered to report to the Police Department for booking. Rivera did so on Thursday, Laboy II late Friday night, and Reyes yesterday, Romero said.
'Keenly aware of issues'
Police said the "snoop list" case, which never resulted in criminal charges, was a huge red flag for investigators.
That case unfolded last March when local police learned that Rivera and Harry Maldonado, a private detective consulting with the School Department, used Lexis Nexis software, purchased by the School Department, to run hundreds of background checks.
Laboy said he believed the district bought the background-searching software to find truant students and their parents. But the list released by police showed that many people with no School Department affiliation were being snooped on with the software.
For the public's protection, police would later release the hundreds of names on the "snoop list" and urge those listed there to check their personal credit reports.
The School District also agreed to purchase a year's worth of identity theft protection coverage for all those "snooped" on.
Blodgett said while the snoop list "behavior was outrageous and unacceptable" from a public employee, the actions did not rise to the level of criminal charges. Even so, authorities were becoming increasingly concerned about what was going on in the Lawrence School Department.
"That there were things going on there that shouldn't be," Romero said. "We were keenly aware there were issues."
Essentially popping the cork on the criminal probe, however, was Samuel Reyes' report of misuse of the School Department's printing press.
"A lot of stuff had been swirling," said Blodgett, who became Essex County District Attorney in 2003. "But you have to have specificity."
The printing scandal
Authorities now believe Laboy, Rivera and Reyes used the half-million dollar printing press to make up free political literature — some without their knowledge — for Lantigua, who at that time was a state representative; state Rep. Barry Finegold, a candidate for Congress in 2007; Israel Reyes, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last fall; and School Committee candidates Peter Larocque, Greg Morris, Priscilla Baez, who is Rivera's sister, and Omaira Mejia.
Lantigua and Finegold have said they were unaware Reyes may have used the schools' printing press for their campaign literature. Larocque publicly apologized and reimbursed the School District $100 in printing expenses.
Authorities also said School Department employees were directed to produce and print jobs for the Association of Latin American Superintendents, which Laboy served as president of in 2005, and menus and magnets for a Sal's Pizza shop Laboy owns in Methuen. Laboy II manages the pizza shop on Howe Street.
Also running concurrently with the criminal investigation was another probe by the State's Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Last September, investigators for that watchdog agency said they uncovered evidence that Laboy, Rivera and Israel Reyes were misusing the printing press for political candidates.
They referred the matter to Attorney General Martha Coakley's office for investigation. The office confirmed getting the referral, but declined further comment.
One thing investigators have yet to do is quantify the financial scope of the allegations. It's unclear how much Laboy is accused of embezzling or how much School Department resources were allegedly provided for free in the printing scandal.
"That issue will be fleshed out at trial," Blodgett said.
Neither Blodgett nor Romero would say who might face future charges.
No matter the dollar amount, Frank McLaughlin, the Lawrence teachers union president, said it's the children of Lawrence who ultimately lose.
He pointed to the School Department's $120 million budget and his current paper allowance, as a high school teacher, which is "four reams of paper per semester."
"And he was putting out glossy magazines and God knows what else," McLaughlin said of Laboy. "These were the resources for our children."
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