Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog

East Boston Man Charged with Beating and Robbing Girlfriend of Cell Phone

Published on: January 5, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Paul A. Morani, 23, of East Boston, Massachusetts, was arrested this past weekend for allegedly beating and robbing his own girlfriend because she broke his cell phone during an argument. Morani was formally with Armed Robbery and Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon.

According to the Boston Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Morani allegedly beat his girlfriend with a knife and punched her several times int he face. He also allegedly demanded she give him $200 and threatened further violence if she did not give him the money. The girlfriend ultimately walked into Boston Police Headquarters and reported the incident, from which she suffered multiple fractured ribs and injuries to her face and wrist.

Morani was not immediately charged in July because his whereabouts were unknown. He was believed to have gone to New Hampshire and even Las Vegas. An anonymous tip this past weekend, however, led Boston Police Officers to the Comfort Inn on American Legion Highway in Dorchester where he was arrested.

Two Men Arraigned in Lowell for New Year’s Even Murder

Published on: January 4, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Jameson Phoun, 20, and Sothy Voeun, 19, both of Lowell, Massachusetts, were arraigned yesterday morning in Lowell District Court on charges of Murder for allegedly shooting spraying a New Year’s Eve Party with gunfire that ended up with a young female dead.

According to the Lowell Police Department and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, Phoun and Voeun, allegedly kicked down the door at a Lowell apartment and began shooting into a crowd of approximately 25 partygoers.

The victim, Corinna Ouer, 20, was shot in the stomach and later succumbed to her wounds. Seven other people were also shot but have survived the attack.

Malden Man Arrested for Assault & Battery and Unarmed Robbery in Boston Train Station

Published on: January 3, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Joseph McCloskey, 40, of Malden, Massachusetts, allegedly assaulted and robbed a man from Arlington last week while he was standing on the train platform at the Downtown Crossing Orange Line Station.

According to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police Department, McCloskey ran off with approximately $200 from the man. As the man chased McCloskey, however, McCloskey suddenly and without warning turned and punched the Arlington man, and the two fell into the train tracks. MBTA employees immediately shut down the third rail.

McCloskey was arraigned yesterday morning in the Boston Municipal Court on charges of Unarmed Robbery and Assault & Battery. Following his arraignment, he was held on $5,000 cash bail.

Massachusetts Parole Board to Face Investigation After Woburn Officer Killed in Shootout Following Kohls Armed Robbery

Published on: December 30, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

he call for the investigation into the Massachusetts Parole Board was triggered after Cinielli, along with two other men robbed the Kohl’s in Woburn this past Sunday and allegedly Murdered Woburn Police Officer John “Jack” Maguire, 60, who responded to the robbery call and began chasing two of the alleged robbers on foot. One of the men, who Woburn Police allege was Cinelli, began shooting at the officer and ultimately struck and killed him.

Dominic Cinelli was released by the Massachusetts Parole Board after a hearing in 2008 and now Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is asking for an investigation of the Parole Board for having released Cinelli, a man who at one point been sentenced to three concurrent life sentences for Armed Robbery, Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, and Gun Crimes.

As a result, the Governor, along with Police Chief across the state and nationwide, are seeking a review of the Massachusetts Parole Board’s decision-making criteria in order to determine how someone, such as Cinelli with such a violent history and had been previously convicted as an Armed Career Criminal, could have been given leniency and released.

Marcus Colono Arraigned for Rape of 2 Boston College Students in 2008

Published on: December 29, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

At his arraignment yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, Marcus Colono, 33, of Cambridge, was formally charged in connection with Rapes of two Boston college students in 2008. He was charged with four counts of Aggravated Rape, two counts of Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, Home Invasion, and Armed Robbery.

At his arraignment, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office alleges that, in 2008, Colono broke through the apartment door of two female college students in Brighton, tied them up and raped both women while threatening them with a knife.

Although Boston Police had obtained DNA evidence from those rapes, the case had gone unsolved until a Suffolk County Grand Jury ordered him to submit a DNA sample, which ultimately matched the DNA taken from one of the females. That DNA sample was also matched to the brutal Cambridge Home Invasion for which Colono had already been charged.

Boston Police Make Dozens of Arrests in Bogus Pawn Shop Sting Operation

Published on: December 26, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

The Boston Police Department announced that, last month, they had opened up a fake pawn shop booth in Boston’s Downtown Crossing in an effort to catch persons trying to unload stolen merchandise.

They called it “M.I.B.”, or Men in Blue, and they were looking to catch people selling stolen goods. The ‘operation’, according to the Boston Police Department, netted 24 arrests and resulted in several Theft Crimes Charges being issued, particularly for Receiving Stolen Property. Not all of the items pawned were stolen, but they do expect to issue an additional 40 warrants for Theft Crimes Charges.

According to the Boston Police Department, the sting operation was set up in response to an increase in home and cellphone robberies, for which numbers for those crimes are up this year. Within the pawnshop, the undercover Boston Police Officers used hidden cameras to identify those persons who pawned items and who did not have identification.

Two Boston Men Charged with Saks Fifth Avenue Robbery of $20,000 Worth of Bags

Published on: December 25, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Robert Davidson, 46, and Kenneth James, 43, were arraigned yesterday morning in the Boston Municipal Court for allegedly trying to steal and run out of Saks Fifth Avenue with $20,000 worth of designer handbags.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Davidson and James took 13 Luis Vuitton bags, along with two others, and ran out of the store. A store security guard, however, was able to catch one of the men, while the second man was apprehended in the area shortly thereafter.

Following the pair’s arraignment on Theft Crimes Charges including Larceny Over $250, the two men were both held without bail as a result of outstanding warrants in other courts.

Man Pleads Guilty in Newton Grandmother Murder

Published on: December 24, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

James Maguire-Clark, 23, a British citizen, pled guilty this past Wednesday to the Murder of Eleanor Clark, 80, a Weston grandmother, who was murdered in March of 2009.

Maguire-Clark, whom Middlesex County prosecutors say had a history of mental illness, pled guilty to Second Degree Murder for stabbing the elderly woman to death in her Weston home. Clark was found dead in her home after police were called and found Maguire-Clark in the kitchen.

With a history of mental illness, Middlesex County prosecutors acknowledged “the legitimate documented and demonstrated issues regarding the defendant’s relevant and legally recognized mental health and diminished capacity.”

Chelsea Man Held Without Bail in Peabody Murder

Published on: December 23, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Fernando Aristy, 24, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, continues to be held without bail in connection with the Murder of Chad McDonald, Sr., which allegedly resulted from a confrontation between the two at a Lynn warehouse.

Aristy is charged with First Degree Murder, Aggravated Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and Aggravated Assault & Battery (both counts being ‘aggravated’ as a result of serious bodily injuries).

According to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, Aristy hit McDonald in the face and head with his fists as well as with a 2×4 piece of wood. McDonald was initially hospitalized for eleven days, but later succumbed to his injuries.

Pair Arrested in Boston Armed Robbery of Convenience Store

Published on: December 21, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Briannah Newsom, 22 of Quincy, and Taylor Harrington, 25, of Boston, are both charged with Armed Robbery for their respective roles in the holdup of Home Market Convenience Store in Roslindale this past Sunday.

According to the Boston Police Department, Newsome and Harrington allegedly entered the Home Market sometime after 10:00 p.m. Sunday. Harrington allegedly went behind the counter, showed the clerk a knife and stole money from the register. Both Newsom and Harrington then left in a black car.

Sometime thereafter, store employees from a nearby CVS called Boston Police to report that a man and woman were acting suspiciously after entering the store. In response to the call, Boston Police Officers arrive and detained Newsom and Harrington. A ‘bring back Identification’ was conducted and employees from the Home Market Store identified them as the pair who robbed them earlier that evening.