State Says Four Took Money To Let Convicts Skip Community
Service
By MATT BURGARD And OSHRAT CARMIEL
Courant Staff Writers
February 3 2006
Four community workers in Hartford, including a widely respected
activist with long ties to the city's Democratic Party, were
charged Thursday with accepting bribes in exchange for letting
criminals get out of performing court-imposed community service.
"These charges are deeply troubling because they go to the heart
of the criminal justice system," said Chief State's Attorney
Christopher Morano, whose office conducted an 11-month
investigation. "These people were giving judges the false
impression that their orders were being carried out, when in
fact they were not. That cannot be tolerated."
The four suspects, all of whom work for agencies hired to
oversee community service programs for the state judicial
system, appeared Thursday in Superior Court in Hartford after
being arrested earlier in the day.
The suspects - Kevin Shannon, 46; Melvin Gray, 26; Shase Ricks,
37; and Mamie Bell, 50 - are accused of accepting bribes from
criminals they were supervising as monitors in community service
programs.
Although details of the charges remain sealed under judge's
order, sources close to the investigation said the four suspects
repeatedly accepted bribes of $200 or more from criminals who
wanted to avoid performing court-mandated community service
programs.
Sources said the four were caught on both video and audio
surveillance agreeing to accept cash in exchange for forging
court documents meant to assure judges that the criminals had
met the community service requirements imposed on them.
While many expressed shock at the arrests, the charges against
Bell sparked particular surprise because of her longtime ties to
community improvement organizations, as well as her 20-year
membership in the city's Democratic town committee.
A former judicial sheriff who was widely known for her work in
helping rehabilitate repeat offenders in the court system,
Bell's arrest left many in the city's legal community shaking
their heads in sadness and disbelief Thursday.
"It's shocking," said Wesley Spears, a defense lawyer at
Superior Court who ended up representing Bell during her
arraignment Thursday.
Judge Bradford Ward ordered Bell held, with bail set at
$200,000. At one point, Bell tried to address the judge to ask
for a lower bail, but Spears shuttled her out of the courtroom
before she could say anything.
Spears, who said he expects he will soon be hired to represent
Bell as her case proceeds, said Bell was surprised when police
officers showed up at her home early Thursday to take her into
custody.
"She's not sure herself what this is all about," he said. "She
maintains her innocence."
Spears also represented Ricks, a program director for the South
Arsenal Neighborhood Development Corp., a well-regarded North
End organization. Ricks, who has previous arrests on assault and
robbery charges, was ordered held, with bail set at $350,000.
Bell, Shannon and Gray are employees of Community Partners in
Action, one of the city's oldest and most influential
nonprofit community outreach agencies.
It receives millions of dollars each year to provide various
services for the courts, as well as other branches of state
government.
Last year, state records show, the state paid Community Partners
close to $10 million, more than half of which went to
court-related programs.
One prominent service the agency provides is an alternative
incarceration program, which offers options to judges who want
to penalize offenders with something less severe, or other than,
jail time. A Superior Court judge could, for example, sentence
someone convicted of drug possession to perform a certain number
of hours of community service.
Bell, Shannon and Gray all worked for alternative incarceration
programs provided by Community Partners; Ricks worked for
programs provided by SAND, according to officials close to the
investigation.
Maureen Price-Boreland, executive director of Community
Partners, said her agency was saddened to learn of the arrests
Thursday.
"If the allegations are true, we are highly disappointed in
these individuals," she said. "We do not condone this type of
activity, and we intend to cooperate fully with the authorities
in their investigation."
Morano said the investigation began almost a year ago when an
attorney in Hartford learned that some convicted criminals had
been able to avoid performing community service by offering
bribes to their program monitors.
William Lavery, the chief court administrator for the state's
judicial branch, said his agency continues to cooperate with
investigators.
"The arrests that occurred today are the result of conscientious
individuals who heard of something they believed was wrong and
reported it to the proper authorities," he said.
Morano said the investigation is not over, adding that many of
the people suspected of paying the bribes have also been
identified and probably will face charges.
He urged those who paid the bribes to voluntarily contact his
office.
"They should know that they will not be able to avoid
prosecution," he said. "But at the same time, we are more
interested in those who accepted the payments than those who
paid them, because those who took the payments violated the
public trust."
State Rep. Marie Kirkley-Bey, D-Hartford, a member of the North
End's town committee, said she was distressed to hear about
Bell, especially because the arrest came on the same day that
former state Sen. Ernest Newton of Bridgeport was sentenced to
five years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery charges.
Bell is running to keep her seat on the town committee.
"When you see people of color who have potential, who have been
able to get to leadership roles and then something like this
happens and you wonder how it happens," Kirkley-Bey said. "You
wonder what makes them take that step."
But Abraham Giles, a veteran North End political boss who serves
with Bell on the town committee, said he's known Bell for 30
years, and doesn't think she's capable of the charges leveled
against her.
"If that's true, then I'm the most surprised man in the world,"
he said.
As to the town committee election, Giles said, "There's no
reason why her name should come off the ballot unless she's
convicted."
Bell is charged with one count each of bribe receiving; aiding
in fabricating evidence; and conspiracy to fabricate evidence;
and two counts of second-degree forgery.
Shannon is charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations Act; two counts of bribe receiving; and
one count each of aiding bribe receiving, fabricating evidence
and second-degree forgery.
Gray is charged with violating the RICO act; two counts of bribe
receiving; and one count each of fabricating evidence and
second-degree forgery.
Ricks is charged with two counts each of fabricating evidence
and second-degree forgery; and one count each of conspiracy to
fabricate evidence and conspiracy to commit second-degree
forgery.
All four suspects are due back in court Feb. 24.
A discussion of this story with Courant Staff Writer Oshrat
Carmiel is scheduled to be shown on New England Cable News each
hour today between 9 a.m. and noon.
