On the tens of thousands of Lobbyists and all of their Political Whores in U.S. Congress

"Lobbyists didn’t suffer a slowdown in 2009: Health industry spent $544m"
By Jonathan D. Salant, Bloomberg News, February 13, 2010

WASHINGTON - The recession did little to slow lobbyists in the nation’s capital last year, the Center for Responsive Politics reported yesterday as it detailed a 5 percent growth in expenses to a record $3.47 billion.

The US Chamber of Commerce led the way, spending a record $144 million. No group had eclipsed the $100 million threshold. Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, was next with $27.4 million.

In 2008, the Chamber of Commerce spent $91.7 million.

“Lobbying appears recession-proof,’’ Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics research group, said in a statement. “Even when companies are scaling back other operations, many view lobbying as a critical tool in protecting their future interests.’’

General Electric, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, was the second biggest-spending corporation with $25.5 million, up from $19.4 million in 2008. GE’s NBC Universal subsidiary is seeking approval to merge with Philadelphia-based Comcast.

The health industry spent $544 million, up 12 percent over 2008, as Congress debated legislation to overhaul health care. The Senate and House have passed separate versions of a health care plan.

Final health care legislation has been held up as Democrats decide how to proceed following the Senate victory of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts. That cost the Democrats the 60th vote they needed to break Republican filibusters.

The drug industry’s trade group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, spent $26.2 million, 30 percent higher than 2008 and third-most among individual concerns hiring lobbyists in 2009.

Four other health care groups were among the top 10 spenders last year: New York-based Pfizer, which spent $24.6 million; Chicago-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its members, $22.7 million; Washington-based AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, $21 million; and the Chicago-based American Medical Association, $20.8 million.

The US Chamber of Commerce also spent heavily on the health care overhaul. Some of the chamber’s overall spending included “grass-roots’’ lobbying efforts, which most other organizations don’t disclose, the center noted.

A nonprofit, independent group, the Center for Responsive Politics tracks money in US politics and its effect on elections and public policy.

It reported that the finance, insurance, and real estate industry, facing congressional proposals for stronger regulation, spent $465 million, up 1 percent from 2008. Some large financial institutions, including Bank of America and New York-based Goldman Sachs, decreased their lobbying spending as they accepted federal bailout funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Other previous lobbying stalwarts had a more precipitous decline. American International Group, for instance, spent just $2.27 million on federal lobbying - a quarter of its 2008 spending - before shutting down lobbying operations in June. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stopped lobbying after each spent tens of millions of dollars earlier in the decade.

The number of companies or entities that reported lobbying the federal government in 2009 increased to 15,712, from 15,049. But the number of registered federal lobbyists decreased, falling to 13,742 from 14,442 in 2008. That did not keep the overall expenditures from accelerating. Spending, fueled by intensifying efforts to overhaul health care and financial regulations in the fall, reached $955.1 million in the last quarter, the first quarter in history that expenditures cracked the $900 million mark.

“Despite the odds, last year was a record year for lobbying,’’ Krumholz said. “However, it’s entirely possible that even more lobbying dollars will be spent in 2010.’’
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www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/02/13/lobbyists_didnt_suffer_a_slowdown_in_2009/?comments=all#readerComm
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Top lobbying associations

Pharmaceutical and health products: $266.8 million

General business associations: $183 million

Oil and gas: $168.4 million

Insurance: $164.2 million

Electric utilities: $144.4 million

Computer/Internet companies: $118.9 million

General manufacturing and distributing: $113.4 million

Hospitals and nursing homes: $108.4 million

Television, movies, and music: $107.3 million

Education: $98.6 million

Source: Center for Responsive Politics

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"Record $3.5 billion spent on lobbying in 2009"
By Annalyn Censky, CNNMoney.com staff reporter, February 12, 2010

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lobbying appears to be recession-proof, according to a report out by the Center for Responsive Politics today.

Companies and interest groups spent a record $3.47 billion on federal lobbying in 2009, a 5% increase over the year before, according to the watchdog group, which tracks money in U.S. politics at its site OpenSecrets.org.

That's surprising, said spokesman Dave Levinthal, since those results come during a year when the recession persisted, the dollar declined and unemployment soared.

"Most people would think that when the economy was as utterly rotten as it was in 2009 that companies might be scaling back their efforts in influencing the federal government," he said. "That the opposite proved true is really a testament to many companies' desire to press forward special interests at the federal level."

Issues like health care, financial reform, climate-change legislation and jobs drove lobbying activity in a year when Congress was notably busy, Levinthal said.

The pharmaceutical and health industry dominated lobbyist spending in D.C. at an estimated $266.8 million -- the greatest amount ever spent by a single industry in one year, according to OpenSecrets. Other big spenders included business associations ($183 million), oil and gas ($168.4 million) and insurance ($164.2 million).

Each of those sectors spent more in 2009 than in 2008.

The biggest lobbying powerhouse was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The association, which represents more than 3 million businesses in various industries, has held the top-spender spot for nine consecutive years. In 2009, the Chamber shelled out about $145 million -- the largest sum spent by a single interest group in one year. That figure marks a 6% increase from last year's lobbying expenses.

"The legislative calendar was very full, and this is a natural response to that," said Eric Wohlschlegel, a Chamber spokesperson.

The deadline to disclose lobbying activity was Jan. 20. A small number of companies and organizations may submit their disclosure reports late or file minor amendments, slightly changing the figures in OpenSecrets' report.

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Major donors
New campaign finance data show that although the Democratic and Republican party committees raised about the same amount of money last year, Democrats received more than twice as much money from large donors.
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SOURCE: Federal Election Commission; Washington Post analysis | The Washington Post - March 18, 2010
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"Democrats retain advantage among big donors even as total fundraising edge slips"
By DAN EGGEN, Washington Post Staff Writer, A17; March 18, 2010

Democrats are having a number of serious problems on the fundraising front, from unhappiness among Wall Street financiers to a narrowing gap with Republicans since the 2008 elections.

But Democrats can still cling to one thing: They remain the kings of collecting money from big donors.

A little-noticed Federal Election Commission report released this month -- and spotted by Washington Post congressional guru Paul Kane -- shows that the three main Democratic committees raised more than twice as much from large donors as their Republican counterparts last year.

The numbers add context to a debate in fundraising circles over whether wealthy donors might be giving less to the Democratic Party because of disputes over White House policies. A number of organizations, including The Post, have chronicled how Wall Street financiers and other patrons who backed Barack Obama in 2008 are either abandoning Democrats or, at the very least, giving less money than in the past.

But the FEC data suggest plenty of wealthy donors continued to support Democrats with their checkbooks, at least through December.

The Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee together took in more than $37.3 million from donors who gave $10,000 or more during the year, the FEC data show. On the GOP side, donors at the same level gave less than $15.6 million to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee combined, the data show.

The overall money race is much closer, with Democratic committees raising $141 million and the GOP close behind at $137.6 million. The Democratic committees, in other words, got more than twice as much of their individual contributions from big donors as Republicans did.

The contrast was particularly sharp between the DNC, which received 60 percent of its money from donations of less than $200, and the RNC, which took in nearly 80 percent of its receipts from the smallest donors. The RNC still edged out the DNC by $4 million in total money raised from individuals.

Overall, the data illustrate how Democrats are in a state of flux on fundraising. Gridlock in Congress and softening public support for Obama have clearly hurt the party's bank accounts, yet the Democrats still benefit mightily from holding the levers of power in Washington.

Consider a comparison with 2005, another post-presidential off-election year, but with Republicans controlling the White House and Congress. The DNC raised just $4.4 million from $10,000-and-over donors that year, an amount the committee quadrupled last year. The pattern is reversed at the RNC, which brought in $20.5 million in large donations in 2005 but less than $3 million in the same category last year.

The Democratic power advantage also shows up in "excess cash" that lawmakers can transfer from their campaign accounts to the party committees. House Democrats, for example, donated nearly $16 million to the DCCC, compared with less than $5 million from House Republicans to the NRCC, the FEC data show.

But the data also reveal Democratic weak points. The DSCC, which took in $15 million from big donors when Democrats were out of power in 2005, raised less than $10 million from the same group last year.

The DNC did not respond to a request for comment on the data. But RNC spokesman Doug Heye said Republicans have made remarkable progress in closing the fundraising gap with Democrats despite being out of power. He noted Obama's ability to hold million-dollar fundraisers with congressional leaders.

"They'll be continuing to get as much water from that stone as they can, but that water is drying up as Obama's poll numbers have fallen," Heye said. "When we had the White House and both chambers, we had a distinct advantage. Now they have that advantage, yet we're still basically at parity with them."

To campaign finance reformers, the lesson to be drawn from the data is simple: There's too much big money in politics.

"Both big donors and ordinary voters are tired of the constant money chase," said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for the Public Campaign Action Fund, which favors public financing for election campaigns.

"Voters see the fundraising as an impediment to good policy," Donnelly added, and "many of the big donors would prefer members of Congress work on the issues confronting the country."

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"Lobbyists focus on senators examining derivatives"
By Edward Wyatt and Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, April 20, 2010

WASHINGTON — Assessing the battle to overhaul the nation’s financial regulations recently, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, left no doubt about the consequences if Congress cracks down on his bank’s immense business in derivatives.

“It will be negative,’’ he said. “Depending on the real detail, it could be $700 million to a couple billion dollars.’’

With so much money at stake, it is not surprising that more than 1,500 lobbyists, executives, and bankers have made their way to the Senate committee that tomorrow will take up legislation to rein in derivatives, the complex securities at the heart of the financial crisis, the billion-dollar bank bailouts, and the fraud case filed against Goldman Sachs.

The forum for all this attention is not the usual banking and financial services committees, but rather the Senate Agriculture Committee, a group more accustomed to dealing with farm subsidies than with the more obscure corners of Wall Street.

A main weapon being wielded to fight the battle is money. Agriculture Committee members have received $22.8 million in this election cycle from people and organizations affiliated with financial, insurance, and real estate companies, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Much of that lobbying has centered on Senator Blanche Lincoln, the Arkansas Democrat who chairs the committee and who last week introduced the bill that would prevent banks from trading derivatives directly.

The daughter of a sixth-generation rice farmer, she has found herself navigating a dangerous channel between Wall Street firms that raised $60,000 at two fund-raisers for her reelection campaign this year and her constituents, many of whom want a crackdown on the speculation that led to the financial crisis.

The committee will be the main arena for the derivatives fight for reasons dating to an era when farming was more important to the nation’s economy than finance. By putting up a relatively small amount of money, a farmer could buy a simple derivative known as a forward or futures contract that would guarantee a set price for crops and thereby guard against ruinous price swings between planting and harvest.

A more complex type of derivative helped to inflate the housing bubble in recent years, as Wall Street repackaged high-risk mortgages into securities that speculators could use to bet on the direction of the housing market. Financial institutions earned millions of dollars in fees for creating the securities.

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"Lobbying expenditures drop for many firms in first quarter"
By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer; A17; April 22, 2010

Maybe everyone is just lobbied out.

Despite passage of sweeping health-care legislation and an epic fight over Wall Street regulation, lobbying expenditures dropped for many major firms and trade organizations during the first quarter of 2009, according to disclosure forms filed in Congress this week.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which spent a record $72 million on lobbying and advocacy efforts during the fourth quarter of 2009, spent less than half that in the first three months of this year, records show. The American Bankers Association spent less on lobbying during the first quarter -- $1.8 million -- than it did during any quarter last year. J.P. Morgan Chase spent 20 percent less so far this year than it did from October to December, when it racked up nearly $1.9 million in Capitol Hill lobbying costs.

Lobbying also dropped precipitously for many energy companies despite the continued debate over climate legislation, including Chevron (down 55 percent) and Exxon Mobil (down 64 percent).

It's important not to go too far, of course. Many major firms racked up impressive billings as they attempted to head off Wall Street regulations, health-care reform and other Obama administration proposals. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents drugmakers, spent more than ever, $7 million. The Financial Services Roundtable, the New York Stock Exchange and Credit Suisse Securities all ratcheted up their spending dramatically during the first quarter; Goldman Sachs, which now finds itself at the center of a major fraud scandal, nearly doubled its lobbying, to $1.15 million, in the first three months of the year.

Even so, the top 25 firms and groups in the financial, insurance and real estate sector posted an overall drop of 8 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2009, to $41.3 million; that number is also down slightly from the same period a year earlier. There are many possible explanations, from a shift in focus to the midterm elections to the fact that Washington was shut down for days after February's historic snowstorm.

But don't worry: There's plenty of time in the year to catch up.

Speaking of Goldman Sachs: The fraud charges leveled against the firm last week present a clear political problem for Democrats, who have collected millions in contributions from Goldman employees and others connected to the case.

The problem is particularly acute for President Obama, who took in nearly $1 million from Goldman Sachs employees during his run for the White House in 2008, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. GOP candidate John McCain, by contrast, collected about $230,000 from Goldman employees, who nonetheless were still among his top givers.

Overall, Goldman's employees and its political action committee gave 3-to-1 to Democrats over Republicans during the 2008 cycle. Former House majority leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) is a registered lobbyist for Goldman, while former Obama counsel Gregory Craig recently signed on to represent the firm. (White House officials say ethics rules prohibit Craig from contacting any administration officials on the subject for two years.)

But the firm's Democratic preference has waned in recent months as the White House has singled out Goldman and other highly profitable Wall Street firms for criticism. The company's PAC gave $167,000 to Republicans and $123,000 to Democrats in March, Federal Election Commission records show.

An RNC spokesman declined to comment. Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said the contributions by Goldman employees "would be a lot more telling if Wall Street banks weren't fighting tooth and nail against the sweeping reforms the administration is advocating for."

The SEC accuses Goldman of a complex form of fraud by selling mortgage-backed securities to clients without disclosing that they were crafted to fail and that billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson -- who helped design them -- was also betting on a negative outcome. Goldman denies the charges.

Paulson poses another political problem for both parties. The Paulson & Co. CEO is a longtime fundraiser who leans Republican but also gives generously to Democrats, particularly those with influence on Wall Street.

Last week, for example, Paulson hosted a fundraiser at his Manhattan home for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Just a week earlier, Paulson hosted a fundraising reception for Sen. Charles E. Schumer at the Friars Club, calling the New York Democrat "one of the few members of Congress who has consistently supported the hedge fund industry."

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"Lobbyists spent nearly $1 billion in Q1"
By Dan Eggen, The Washington Post, April 29, 2010

It's official: The first quarter of 2010 marked another frenzy for Washington lobbyists as corporations, unions and other interest groups spent nearly $1 billion in their attempts to sway Congress and the Obama administration.

The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group, calculates that the $903 million spent on lobbying from January through March puts the profession on pace to beat last year's record expenditures of $3.5 billion.To look at it another way: Interest groups spent $19 million for every day that the House or Senate was in session.

The onslaught was led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other general business interests, which together spent about $139 million in the first quarter, CRP said. The other big spenders were directly linked to the weighty legislative issues that have dominated Congress: the health sector spent $138 million in the battle over President Obama's health-care overhaul legislation; the energy sector spent $128 million in the debate over cap-and-trade; and the finance sector dropped $123 million in attempts to sway a proposed Wall Street overhaul.

That said, the overall numbers also mask notable drops in spending by many individual companies and sectors, some of which have been hit hard by the economic downturn. The agribusiness, construction and transportation sectors, for example, all scaled back their spending in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period a year earlier, as did major corporations ranging from ExxonMobil to Lockheed Martin.
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related: www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/04/hoards-of-hired-guns-earned-about-1.html
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Carmen Massimiano is alleged a homosexual deviant pedophile & pervert!

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Carmen C. Massimiano Jr. (Caroline Bonnivier)
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"Cloud over sheriff's past"
By Conor Berry and Tim Farkas, Berkshire Eagle Staff, February 11, 2010

Pittsfield police twice have interviewed a Pittsfield man who claims he was sexually assaulted as a child by current Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano Jr., The Eagle has learned.

No charges were ever filed against Massimiano, who has been unavailable for comment about the allegations over the past four weeks. Massimiano hasn't returned the newspaper's phone calls or responded to written requests for a meeting with reporters and editors, and numerous attempts to speak with him at his home have been unsuccessful.

On Wednesday, The Eagle called Massimiano's office a final time, asking for a response before the allegations were published. The call was not returned.

Pittsfield police interviewed Massimiano's accuser, James E. Monahan, in 2004 and 2008, according to law enforcement sources who have knowledge of the interviews. The sources said police made a written report of the first session and a video of the second. Monahan verified to The Eagle that he was interviewed twice and that the second interview was recorded on video.

Monahan, now 46, has told The Eagle in four face-to-face interviews over the past three months that he was fondled by Massimiano as a 7-year-old in 1971 and then again in 1976. Monahan also brought up the 1971 allegation during a live radio broadcast last month.

Massimiano, now 65, was in his mid-20s and was a probation officer in Berkshire County when the first assault allegedly occurred. He was in his early 30s and was chief of probation for Berkshire Superior Court when the second assault allegedly happened. Massimiano has been the county sheriff since being appointed to the position by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in 1978.

One of the sources told The Eagle that Pittsfield police did not launch an investigation of Massimiano because the statute of limitations had expired on the accusations, which were 33 and 28 years old, respectively, in 2004. The source said the 2008 interview was conducted so that the allegations could be more formally documented.

Monahan said Pittsfield police approached him first about both interviews. He said police set up the 2004 meeting after hearing about the sexual assault allegations from one of his friends. The 2008 interview came about because police wanted to get Monahan's accusations on video in the event that any other allegations would be levied against the sheriff within the statute of limitations, according to Monahan.

Monahan said he never approached Pittsfield police because he was embarrassed by the nature of his accusations.

Monahan told The Eagle that Massimiano fondled him in 1971 in a restroom at the Pittsfield Boys' Club and in 1976 in a public restroom in downtown Pittsfield.

Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless and Pittsfield City Attorney Richard M. Dohoney have declined to comment to The Eagle about Monahan's allegations.

Police have not responded to the newspaper's oral and written requests for a copy of Monahan's 2008 video interview, which has been kept at the Pittsfield police station.

Monahan, who works in the health and human services field, told The Eagle he never pursued civil action against Massimiano because he wasn't interested in getting financial reparations. Monahan said he just wanted an apology from Massimiano.

Monahan said the sheriff apologized to him this year during a phone conversation on Jan. 10.

Massimiano didn't specify his reason for apologizing and did not admit to any wrongdoing, according to Monahan, who said his 2008 interview with police spurred him to seek the apology.

On Jan. 10, Monahan said he checked himself into Berkshire Medical Center after suffering an anxiety attack triggered by that day's Eagle article about Massimiano's political career.

The next day, according to hospital records, Monahan received a phone call from “a prominent Pittsfield official” while Monahan was being treated by BMC medical personnel at the Jones II unit for voluntary inpatient care. Monahan was at the facility for several days.

“During our interview this official did call in to Jones II and we had a brief phone conference,” according to a two-page report that is part of Monahan's medical records at BMC. “Jim was able to articulate himself well and communicate that he wanted to have a meeting with this gentleman in the supported community of Jones II.”

The report went on to say that the official said he would not meet with “a group of people” but would come to Jones II to speak with Monahan privately.

The physician who filled out the report told the official that a private meeting “would not be beneficial to Jim.”

“After a brief discussion, it was decided that we would end the phone conversation and Jim would contact him [the official] further if we decided to follow through with arranging for a meeting,” the report stated, noting that despite his prior substance-abuse issues, Monahan's “toxicology and blood alcohol levels have been negative.”

Monahan said Massimiano knew he was at BMC because Monahan had told him the previous day that he planned to go there.

Monahan came to The Eagle in late October to state his accusations against Massimiano, but Eagle editors who were at the meeting decided against publishing the allegations until they could be investigated.

The newspaper's investigation heightened after Monahan repeated the 1971 allegation against Massimiano during a live radio call-in show on Pittsfield station WBRK on Jan. 15, and also after Monahan held a press conference outside of the Pittsfield police station the day before.

Only four people -- Monahan, two Eagle reporters, and an Eagle photographer -- attended the press conference, even though the Sheriff's Office and the Pittsfield Police Department had been notified of it.

Massimiano has not spoken with The Eagle since saying in the Jan. 10 article that he would seek re-election in November. On Jan. 14, veteran Pittsfield Police Detective Thomas N. Bowler became the first person since 1980 to challenge Massimiano for the sheriff's position. That same day, Massimiano withdrew from the sheriff's race, citing his and his wife's “ongoing health issues” and the difficulty of upholding “the duties of his office” while managing a re-election campaign.

More than two months before his withdrawal, Massimiano was campaigning for re-election to the Pittsfield School Committee, but he became the only candidate eliminated in a seven-way race for six positions.

“I found it curious,” Massimiano told The Eagle for the Jan. 10 article, referring to his defeat.

At Massimiano's last School Committee meeting, on Dec. 16, Mayor James M. Ruberto hailed the sheriff as a key member of the board.

“There's no stronger advocate for the students of Pittsfield, and no stronger advocate for at-risk children in our city,” Ruberto said.

Massimiano's health issues, which he cited in announcing his exit from the sheriff's race, weren't specified until Jan. 27, when he released a written statement saying he has been “dealing with a bone marrow deficiency over the past several years” and has been receiving blood transfusions for it. He also said in the statement that he has no plans to leave his job as sheriff before his six-year term expires on Jan. 4, 2011.

The statement came amid speculation that health issues would force Massimiano to resign. He reiterated his commitment to the job in a full-page advertisement he took out in The Eagle on Feb. 3. In the ad, he also touted his accomplishments as sheriff, including the construction of the $34 million Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction in 2001.

During the WBRK “Talk Berkshires” program, which is hosted by Sherman Baldwin, Monahan -- who did not immediately identify himself on the air -- called to say he knew why Massimiano had withdrawn from the sheriff's race. The caller, however, said he didn't want to specify the reason. He eventually was persuaded to do so, and he stated his allegation about what happened to him as a 7-year-old.

Baldwin responded with shock.

“Whoa!” he said. ... “Can you give me your first and last name, sir?”

Seconds later, Baldwin told his audience: “We have a caller now making a very harsh accusation.”

After asking his producer to get the caller's name, Baldwin read it over the air.

“His name is Jim Monahan, folks.”

That same day, WBRK officials said, a representative from Massimiano's office requested -- and received -- a recording of the “Talk Berkshires” segment, which lasted 5 minutes and 12 seconds.

WBRK President Willard “Chip” Hodgkins has not returned phone calls seeking comment about the segment, and neither Massimiano nor the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office has commented about it.
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To reach Conor Berry: cberry@berkshireeagle.com, or (413) 496-6249.
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To comment on this story, send e-mail to newscomments@berkshireeagle.com
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"Sheriff mum about claims: His office still has not responded to a Pittsfield man's allegations. Meanwhile, state Rep. Daniel E. Bosley offers his support."
By Conor Berry, Berkshire Eagle Staff, February 12, 2010

PITTSFIELD -- Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano Jr. remained unavailable for comment Thursday in the wake of allegations by a Pittsfield man that Massimiano sexually assaulted him as a youth in the 1970s, before Massimiano was appointed to the sheriff's position.

The accusations prompted Pittsfield police to interview the accuser, James E. Monahan, now 46, in 2004 and 2008. The police involvement and Monahan's allegations were published in The Eagle on Thursday.

Massimiano, now 65, has yet to refute the decades-old allegations, which did not trigger criminal charges. Numerous efforts to reach the sheriff at his office, his Pittsfield home and on his cell phone have been unsuccessful.

While several of Massimiano's political allies -- including Pittsfield Mayor James M. Ruberto and Soldier On President Jack Downing -- did not return phone calls from The Eagle on Thursday, longtime state Rep. Daniel E. Bosley offered support for the sheriff.

"I've known Carmen for a long, long time, and I've never heard anything untoward," Bosley said.

Monahan claims Massimiano fondled him in 1971, when Massimiano was a county probation officer, and again in 1976, when Massimiano was chief of probation for Berkshire Superior Court. Massimiano became sheriff in 1978.

Monahan claims the first assault occurred at the Pittsfield Boys' Club, and the second one happened at a public bathroom in downtown Pittsfield.

James J. Mooney, who was president of the Pittsfield Boys' Club at the time of the 1971 allegation, said he was unaware of any illicit or inappropriate activity at the club.

"If I knew about it, I would have brought it to the authorities," Mooney told The Eagle on Thursday. "I would have taken corrective measures."

Mooney, 79, said he was not privy to any sexual assault allegations involving Monahan or any other boys during his tenure as club president.

"We had good supervision," he said. "I really didn't hear anything about it. There would have been something done about it."

Monahan went public with his accusations during a Jan. 14 press conference held outside of the Pittsfield police station. He repeated the allegations the next day during a live radio broadcast on WBRK in Pittsfield. Monahan also told his story to The Eagle on several occasions since last October.

Meanwhile, officials at the Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction would not confirm if Massimiano was at work on Thursday.

"He's away from his desk at the moment," said Diane M. Maynes, Massimiano's executive assistant.

Maynes offered to "get a message to him."

A source told The Eagle that Massimiano left for a vacation before the publication of Thursday's front-page article, although jail officials would not confirm that information.

Robert McDonough, the jail's public information officer, did not respond to a reporter's request for information regarding Massimiano's whereabouts.

If the sheriff did take a vacation, it would be his second since January, when Massimiano went to Puerto Rico for several days. Massimiano's January trip, which was confirmed by a spokesman, coincided with the disclosure of Monahan's allegations and the announcement that Massimiano would face his first political challenger in 30 years.

On Jan. 14, veteran Pittsfield Police Detective Thomas N. Bowler became the fist person to challenge Massimiano for the sheriff's position since 1980. That same day, Massimiano withdrew from the sheriff's race, citing his and his wife's "ongoing health issues" and the difficulty of upholding the "duties of his office" while managing a re-election campaign.

Massimiano's withdrawal came via a written statement. He hasn't spoken with The Eagle since a Jan. 10 article quoted him as saying that he was running for re-election as sheriff.

On Thursday, two of Massimiano's high-profile cousins -- retired Berkshire County Judge Alfred A. Barbalunga and state Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina -- also would not comment about the assault allegations against Massimiano.

Barbalunga failed to return a phone call, and Spina declined to comment through SJC spokeswoman Joan Kenney.

Former Pittsfield Mayor Remo Del Gallo, owner of Del Gallo's Restaurant on Newell Street -- an establishment frequented by Massimiano and his friends -- characterized his relationship with the Massimiano family as "very close." But Del Gallo, Pittsfield's mayor from 1965 to 1967, declined to comment about the assault allegations levied against the sheriff.
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To reach Conor Berry: cberry@berkshireeagle.com, or (413) 496-6249.
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www.topix.net/forum/source/berkshire-eagle/THF3AEI9N960LE1Q7
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Carmen C. Massimiano Jr. (Eagle file)
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"Sheriff denies allegations"
By Conor Berry, Berkshire Eagle Staff, February 13, 2010

PITTSFIELD -- Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano Jr. has "unequivocally" denied sexual assault allegations by a Pittsfield man who claims Massimiano fondled him as a youth in the 1970s.

"To the best of my recollection, I have never actually met Mr. Monahan," Massimiano said in a three-page statement Friday, referring to his accuser, James E. Monahan.

"I certainly never sexually abused him," Massimiano, 65, said of Monahan, now 46.No charges were ever filed against Massimiano.

"I certainly never sexually abused him," Massimiano, 65, said of Monahan, now 46.No charges were ever filed against Massimiano.

His statement was faxed to The Eagle on Friday afternoon by Diane M. Maynes, his executive assistant.

Before Friday, Massimiano had not responded to numerous requests and messages by The Eagle seeking comment about the allegations, which Monahan levied during a Jan. 14 press conference outside of the Pittsfield police station.

Massimiano still hasn't responded to the newspaper's written requests for a meeting with editors and reporters.

Monahan reiterated his allegations against the sheriff during a live Pittsfield radio broadcast on Jan. 15. He also has told his story to the Pittsfield Police Department, which interviewed Monahan and took statements from him in 2004 and 2008. The latter interview included a video statement of Monahan's accusations.

Monahan claims Massimiano fondled him twice in the 1970s -- once in 1971 at the Pittsfield Boys' Club, and again in 1976 at a public restroom in downtown Pittsfield. Monahan has said he was 7 years old at the time of the first alleged incident.

Monahan has told his story to Eagle editors and reporters on several occasions since late October, but the newspaper's editors decided against publishing the allegations until they could be investigated.

On Thursday, The Eagle ran a front-page article stating Monahan's accusations.

In Friday's statement, Massimiano confirmed that he spoke with Monahan by telephone last month, but he said it "was the first I ever heard of any abuse allegations."

Massimiano further noted: "I attempted to speak sympathetically with Mr. Monahan, but, contrary to The Eagle's report, I did not offer any apology. I had nothing to apologize for."

Earlier in the statement, Massimiano said: "I want, first and foremost, to state unequivocally that there is no truth whatsoever to the allegations against me as reported in the February 11 edition of the Berkshire Eagle."

Monahan, meanwhile, has not wavered from his accusations.

"I stand by my allegations 100 percent," he said Friday.

Massimiano has been sheriff since 1978, when he was appointed to the position by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis.
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February 13, 2010

Re: Carmen Massimiano

I believe the allegations against Carmen Massimiano. I grew up in and around Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Ever since I was a child, I have heard negative things said against him. I have heard rumors that he is a deviant & predatory homosexual who also abuses his political power to be both vindictive and vengeful. Carmen Massimiano is a "Good Old Boy" who has ruined many people's lives under the precept of insider versus outsider status. I personally heard Carmen Massimiano call one of his political adversaries a "cocksucker". I have personally seen Carmen Massimiano wring his hands and make abusive comments at local political meetings. He'd leave early after muttering that he should be the one running the show. His jailer staff has told me that everyone fears him. One jailer told me that the objective is to have one's name NOT cross Carmen's desk. When I moved from Berkshire County to Southern NH in 2004, Carmen Massimiano came up to me in Pittsfield and said that he knows that I know what they (Andrea Nuciforo or "Good Old Boys") tried to do to me, and that I should not talk or write about it, and that I should NOT feel safe now that I live in a distant region from Pittsfield. Carmen Massimiano is a bully! He was one of many layered bullies or political henchmen that did "Luciforo's" dirty work, especially against me. I feel relieved that Carmen Massimiano is finally being openly seen for the bad man who he really and truly is. I know that I am not alone in being one of Carmen Massimiano's many victims of harassing persecution. I knew it all along!

- Jonathan Melle

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Published on 2/18/2010
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The Massimiano Committee:
274 Appleton Ave, Pittsfield, MA 01201
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"Hypocrisy comes through in ad"
The Berkshire Eagle, Letters, February 23, 2010

The full-page ad Feb. 18 by Carmen Massimiano was inevitable. His office had no choice but to submit it because he and his people know that the best defense is a good offense. Coming soon: the sky-written version.

No one but Massimiano and James Monahan know the full truth of what happened that day at what was then the Pittsfield Boys' Club. I certainly don't. But I take great exception to the hypocrisy contained in the sheriff's manifesto.

He says he understand that Monahan "has a history of mental health issues that include periods of hospitalizations" and "a history of substance abuse," then proceeds to use this information to declare that it's all in his accuser's head. He then disingenuously hopes that Monahan "will get the help he needs to find peace of mind and spirit."

Excuse me, but didn't the sheriff just attack his character for seeking hospitalization? And if this sexual abuse did indeed happen, who can blame the poor man for falling prey to substance abuse? Massimiano wants to use the issue of hospitalization to blast Monahan but then hopes he'll go seek it. You can't have it both ways, sheriff.

As for having "mental health issues," most people recovering from sexual abuse struggle with those. It is no wonder that Monahan does if the allegations are true.

All in all, it was a powerful ad. I wonder who wrote it?

LEXIE LLOYD
Lee, Massachusetts

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"WBRK call-in host off the air: Sherman Baldwin and the president of the station differ on the nature of the split."
By Conor Berry, Berkshire Eagle Staff, February 24, 2010

PITTSFIELD -- The host of a popular Pittsfield radio program is parting ways with WBRK, citing philosophical disagreements with the station's management over the content of his program.

Sherman Baldwin, the host of "Talk Berkshires," a call-in show that until Tuesday had aired weekday afternoons on WBRK, claims the radio station's president and CEO, Willard "Chip" Hodgkins, terminated his program because of Baldwin's "coverage of the allegations made against [Berkshire County] Sheriff Carmen Massimiano."

While Baldwin claims he was fired after a meeting with Hodgkins on Tuesday morning, Hodgkins told The Eagle that Baldwin left the station of his own volition.

Baldwin, 50, worked for the station as an independent contractor. He came to WBRK (1340 AM) in May 2009. "Confidential negotiations with Sherman about reformatting the show were under way," Hodgkins said Tuesday. "The negotiations broke down and [Baldwin] decided to leave. I did not terminate him," Hodgkins said, noting that "there have been issues over the past few months."

Baldwin, 50, worked for the station as an independent contractor. He came to WBRK (1340 AM) in May 2009. "Confidential negotiations with Sherman about reformatting the show were under way," Hodgkins said Tuesday. "The negotiations broke down and [Baldwin] decided to leave. I did not terminate him," Hodgkins said, noting that "there have been issues over the past few months."

Hodgkins said he and Baldwin had "different philosophical approaches about what a local talk show should be." Baldwin had other options to remain at the station, according to Hodgkins, but Baldwin decided to leave.

Baldwin acknowledged Tuesday that Hodgkins gave him the option of hosting a show with no local news content or commentary, a programming proposal that Baldwin called "preposterous."

Baldwin said the "Massimiano issue" is what led to his departure. During a live, Jan. 15 broadcast of "Talk Berkshires," a caller to Baldwin's program claimed Massimiano fondled him in 1971.

The caller, whom Baldwin later identified as "Jim Monahan," a Pittsfield resident, was initially vague about his allegations against the sheriff. But Baldwin got the caller to be more specific, prompting the radio host to categorize the allegations as "harsh."

The Eagle, after conducting an investigation of Monahan's allegations for more than three months, said in a Feb. 11 article that James E. Monahan -- the same Jim Monahan who called Baldwin's radio show on Jan. 15 -- claimed that Massimiano had fondled him in 1971 and again in 1976.

The Pittsfield Police Department interviewed Monahan about his accusations against the sheriff in 2004 and 2008, but the statute of limitations for the allegations had long expired, precluding the possibility of any criminal charges.

Massimiano, 65, denied the allegations in a three-page statement faxed to The Eagle on Feb. 12. He had been unavailable for comment about the allegations in the previous four weeks. He never responded to phone calls and written requests for a meeting with reporters and editors, and numerous efforts by The Eagle to speak with him at his home were unsuccessful.

Baldwin said Tuesday that the "straw that broke the camel's back" with WBRK management occurred during Monday's broadcast of "Talk Berkshires," which featured a segment with local attorney Rinaldo Del Gallo III.

During the live broadcast, Del Gallo discussed whether Massimiano had legal grounds for a possible lawsuit against The Eagle, referring to a full-page advertisement by Massimiano that appeared in the Feb. 18 edition of the newspaper. In the ad, Massimiano again denied Monahan's allegations and then stated his intention to seek "legal remedy" against The Eagle for its Feb. 11 article.

Reporter Clarence Fanto, who wrote about Baldwin in a job-summit story that ran in The Eagle on Feb. 12, called in to Baldwin's radio program Tuesday to defend the newspaper's handling of the Massimiano story.

Fanto's Eagle article shed light on the fact that Baldwin and Allen Harris, the organizers of last Friday's Berkshire Jobs Summit at the Crowne Plaza, both have had legal problems.

According to key members of the Berkshire business community, Baldwin and Harris also overbilled the summit, listing top-drawer speakers who had not accepted invitations.

Harris, the founder and president of Berkshire Money Management -- a Pittsfield-based company that Harris said manages $218 million in investments -- was ordered by a judge in 2006 to repay his former employer $2 million for allegedly using company information to start his own money management firm. Baldwin served a year in jail after pleading guilty in 1999 to defrauding investors in an independent film.

"It was made clear to me [by Hodgkins] that my past history had nothing to do with it, that the job summit had nothing to do with it," Baldwin told The Eagle on Tuesday.

Rather, Baldwin said, his departure had everything to do with Monday's on-air discussion about Massimiano and the controversy sparked by Monahan's allegations during the Jan. 15 program. "This is not about ratings or revenues, which are growing substantially since the inception of ‘Talk Berkshires,' " Baldwin said.

Rather, Baldwin said, his departure had everything to do with Monday's on-air discussion about Massimiano and the controversy sparked by Monahan's allegations during the Jan. 15 program. "This is not about ratings or revenues, which are growing substantially since the inception of ‘Talk Berkshires,' " Baldwin said.

"I'm too controversial. The sheriff was the straw that broke the camel's back," Baldwin said. "It is not an understatement to say that it had to do with Sheriff Carmen Massimiano."

Baldwin said Hodgkins told him that he was essentially bad for business. According to Baldwin, Hodgkins told him: "Local talk is too controversial for us, and you're giving the station a bad name."

If anything, Baldwin said, he's been "very supportive" of Massimiano.

"I've said these are just allegations and they should be considered just that," Baldwin said, calling the sheriff "a good public servant."

Meanwhile, Baldwin and Michael J. Valenti, the producer of "Talk Berkshires," plan to hold a press conference at noon today at the Crowne Plaza. At that time, Baldwin said, he'll announce his plans for the future.

Baldwin's radio career has included stints in Albany, N.Y.; Sedona, Ariz.; and Greenwich, Conn., where he grew up.

The purpose of "Talk Berkshires" was "to engage listeners in a locally oriented talk program that would discuss issues related to local subjects and news," Baldwin said.

"I am not going to go out without a fight," he said.
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Eagle freelance reporter Clarence Fanto contributed to this report.
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"Sheriff maintains his innocence"
By Tim Farkas, Berkshire Eagle Staff, March 5, 2010

PITTSFIELD -- Carmen C. Massimiano Jr. reiterated Friday that he has no plans to resign as Berkshire County sheriff and that he did not sexually assault a Pittsfield youth in the 1970s.

In his first interview with The Eagle since early January -- when he discussed his political past and future for a Jan. 10 story -- Massimiano said Friday that he did not assault James E. Monahan, now 46, who claimed in a Feb. 11 Eagle article that he was fondled as a 7-year-old by Massimiano in 1971 and again in 1976.

"I did not, I did not," Massimiano, 65, said when asked Friday about whether he assaulted Monahan.

The interview with Massimiano lasted about an hour and took place at The Eagle’s invitation in front of newspaper editorial board members at the Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction. The sheriff was accompanied by his attorney, James F. Martin of Springfield, and by Darby O’Brien, president of the South Hadley-based public-relations firm bearing his name.

When asked why he thought Monahan had made the sexual assault allegations, Massimiano responded: "I have absolutely no idea. Have you ever talked to him?"

The Eagle answered yes.

"You didn’t find that he needed help?" said Massimiano, who acknowledged talking with Monahan on the phone on Jan. 10 and 11.

"You didn’t hear in his voice ... how he was and what he said?" the sheriff continued. "When I spoke to this fellow, you could tell that he needed help."

Massimiano said Monahan called him Jan. 10 at the jail, and the sheriff called him back -- even though he didn’t know who Monahan was. During that phone call, Massimiano said the substance of the conversation caused him to become concerned about Monahan’s mental well-being.

The Jan. 11 phone conversation took place when Monahan was in Berkshire Medical Center’s Jones II unit voluntarily after suffering an anxiety attack he said was triggered by seeing the Jan. 10 article on Massimiano.

The sheriff said he hasn’t talked with Monahan since Jan. 11.

"I guess the psychosis of it all is his demon," Massimiano said.

Monahan could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The sheriff said the Feb. 11 Eagle article "besmirched my reputation" and was "absolutely, positively, mean-spirited."

Massimiano first denied Monahan’s assault allegations in a three-page statement faxed to The Eagle on Feb. 12. The statement came after Massimiano did not respond to several attempts by the newspaper to contact him about the allegations in person and on the phone before the Feb. 11 article ran.

Pittsfield police interviewed Monahan twice about the allegations -- taking a written statement in 2004 and video statement in 2008 -- but no charges were ever filed in the case. A law enforcement source said in the Feb. 11 article that Pittsfield police never launched an investigation of Massimiano because the statute of limitations had expired.

The source said the 2008 interview was conducted so that the allegations could be more formally documented. Monahan said police approached him first about both interviews.

Massimiano said Friday that he had "no idea" why police conducted the interviews. The sheriff said he "never, never, ever" has been interviewed by Pittsfield police or any other law enforcement personnel.

Massimiano said Friday that Monahan’s claims are not why he isn’t seeking another term as sheriff. Instead, Massimiano said, The Eagle’s Jan. 10 article on his political life "had more to do with me not running than anything else."

Massimiano has held the post since 1978 but dropped out of the running for it on Jan. 14.

Two weeks later -- amid speculation that he would resign the position -- Massimiano said he intended to serve out his current six-year term, which is due to expire Jan. 4.

Massimiano on Friday reiterated his intention to finish the job, saying: "That is my plan."

Massimiano said the Jan. 10 article was "negative, unfair" and focused too much on his loss this past November in the Pittsfield School Committee race, among other things.

Massimiano was the only candidate eliminated in a seven-way race for the school board.

When he pulled out of the race for sheriff, via written statement more than two months later, Massimiano said health issues played a role in his decision. He later identified a bone-marrow deficiency that he had received blood transfusions for.

On Friday, Massimiano said he still was being treated for that deficiency and remains "blood-transfusion-dependent" and is seeing a hematologist in Boston.

When asked what his prognosis was, the sheriff responded: "I wish I knew."

Sixty-four days into 2010, Massimiano said he has taken "16 or 17" days off. He said there’s "no restriction for elected officials" when it comes to time off.

"There’s no sick time; there’s no vacation," he said.
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"Baldwin says goodbye"
The Berkshire Eagle, March 5, 2010

PITTSFIELD -- Embattled Pittsfield radio host Sherman Baldwin is leaving the Berkshires.

Baldwin, who parted ways with WBRK (1340 AM) on Feb. 23, held a press conference Friday at Chapters Bookstore to officially announce the end of "Talk Berkshires," an afternoon program that debuted last May.

Baldwin said he has talked with officials at two Boston radio stations, but he wouldn’t reveal whether a job is in the offing. In the meantime, he said, he hopes the lively format of "Talk Berkshires" will survive in some form because the program provided a forum for Berkshire residents to communicate directly with politicians and business leaders, among others.

Baldwin said he believes his departure from WBRK was facilitated by two on-air discussions about the sheriff of Berkshire County. As a result of those discussions, which aired Jan. 15 and Feb. 22, Baldwin claims he became "too controversial" for the Hodgkins family, the owners of WBRK.

Baldwin, 50, was hired by WBRK as an independent contractor. He acknowledged at the press conference that his "personal baggage" and his "mishandling" of last month’s Berkshire Jobs Summit, which he helped organize, also contributed to his demise at WBRK.

Baldwin has been accused of overhyping the jobs summit, among other things, after listing nationally known speakers who had not accepted invitations to speak at the event. A series of recent Eagle articles, editorials and columns shed light on Baldwin’s 1999 conviction for defrauding investors in an independent film.

Baldwin served jail time for the conviction, but WBRK officials said they were not aware of Baldwin’s past legal trouble until a reporter learned of it and brought it to their attention.

Willard "Chip" Hodgkins III, the station’s president and CEO, told The Eagle last month that Baldwin had other options to remain at the station, including reformatting the program. But Baldwin decided to leave of his own volition, Hodgkins said.

Hodgkins’ father, Willard "Huck" Hodgkins II, said rumors of Baldwin’s possible return to WBRK are untrue.

"There are no plans at this time," he told The Eagle on Wednesday.

Baldwin said he harbors no ill will toward the Hodgkinses, despite accusing them last month of "pulling the plug" on his show by barring discussion of local issues. The Hodgkinses could not be reached for comment Friday.

Baldwin said he hoped people would focus on the need for local, issues-oriented radio programming in the Berkshires.

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March 8, 2010

Re: Carmen Massimiano is a wicked man!

I have heard rumors about Berkshire County (Massachusetts) Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano, Jr. It is alleged that there are many more boys and men who have been abused by Mr. Massimiano. However, these victims are afraid of Carmen's power in my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. For additional men to come forward would mean embarassment for themselves and their families. Carmen is so powerful that he can harass each and every person who steps forward to expose his alleged sexual abuse against boys and men. These victims are men with wives, children, jobs, mortgages, young adults in colleges, and the like. If these men came forward, they would put their families, jobs, financial well being, and reputations in great jeopardy. Moreover, I have heard that these victims would fear for the safety of both themselves and their families due to Carmen's network of politicians and bullies. I have heard that the firing of the radio talk show host Sherman Baldwin was symbolic of his power to warn (or threaten) the many men victims of Carmen's sexual abuse from coming forward. I also have heard that Carmen's page long ad in the Berkshire Eagle was a legal warning (or threat) to the news media from further investigating Carmen Massimiano's sexual abuse against many boys and men. It is obvious to me from the rumors I have heard about this situation that Carmen Massimiano is trying to intimidate people and the news media from further investigating his sexual abuse against boys and men.

On a personal note, former state Senator Andrea Francesco Nuciforo, Jr. (also known as "Luciforo") made false reports against me to the Pittsfield Police Department in the Spring of 1998 when I was 22 years old that I was allegedly threatening him and if I stopped by his district office he would have me immediately arrested. "Luciforo" swore out his complaint against me after he filed numerous "ethics" complaints against my Dad, who was a Pittsfield Probation Officer and Berkshire County Commissioner at the time. The goal of "Luciforo's" plan to have me jailed was to seek revenge and intimidation against my father for standing up to his corruption in state politics. 6 years later, in 2004, Sheriff Carmen Massimiano approached me in Pittsfield and told me now that I live in Amherst or Southern New Hampshire that I should not feel safe after Mr. Massimiano told me that he knows that I knew what "they" tried to do to me and not to speak out about it. Carmen Massimiano's warning (or threat) to me is consistent with his behaviour or actions in responding to the allegations that he sexually molested a then 7 year old boy.

I was even told that a man who was sexually abused by Carmen Massimiano took his own life. The allegations against Carmen Massimiano that he sexually abused boys and men look to be true. If so, Carmen Massimiano has ruined the lives of many boys and men. Carmen Massimiano has cost society a lot of time, money and pain for his own selfish sexual gratification. Carmen Massimiano should come clean and be accountable for all of the damage he has caused boys and men as a sexual abuser in order to provide resolution to all of his victims. If Carmen Massimiano does not step forward, I believe he is pathological or even a sociopath and needs to be committed to a psychiatric institution so he will not cause harm to anyone else. I do NOT believe that Carmen Massimiano is innocent!

In truth!
Jonathan Melle

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Sheriff Carmen Massimiano Jr.
"Campaign funds used on PR, ads: One-third of war chest spent in wake of abuse allegations"
By Conor Berry, Berkshire Eagle Staff, March 13, 2010

PITTSFIELD -- Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano Jr., in the wake of sexual assault allegations against him, used more than one-third of his $60,000 campaign war chest in February to hire a public relations firm and also buy two full-page advertisements in The Berkshire Eagle.

According to records filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, Massimiano spent a total of $10,679.26 on two Eagle ads, which listed his accomplishments as sheriff, revealed his ongoing health issues, and criticized The Eagle for publishing a Feb. 11 article in which Pittsfield resident James E. Monahan said he was sexually assaulted as a youth by Massimiano in the 1970s.

No charges were ever filed against Massimiano, and he has denied Monahan's allegations, most recently during a March 5 meeting with members of The Eagle's editorial board.

In addition to the advertising money paid to The Eagle, the finance records indicate Massimiano also spent $12,045.31 to hire Darby O'Brien Public Relations and Advertising, a South Hadley firm. The firm was hired to run Massimiano's re-election campaign, according to O'Brien, the owner of the agency. O'Brien also was present during Massimiano's meeting with The Eagle editorial board.

Massimiano, 65, officially announced he would not seek another term as sheriff on Jan. 14. According to finance records, Massimiano made two payments toward O'Brien's services after that date: A February 4 payment for $10,000, and a Feb. 10 payment for $2,045.31. O'Brien's firm designed the ads.

The Eagle ads, which were paid for on Feb. 3 and 19, respectively, cost $5,339.63 apiece, according to Massimiano's campaign finance records.

The combined payments to Darby O'Brien and The Eagle totaled $22,724.57 in expenditures made by the sheriff's campaign -- The Massimiano Committee -- in February. An additional $1,072.72 went toward various expenses, including $672.72 for federal and state tax payments and $400 for refunded political donations.
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9/13/2017

Carmen Massimiano gave Pittsfield a new jail on Cheshire Road. The state placed overflow inmates in the Pittsfield jail. The ex-cons stayed in Pittsfield to collect their welfare and social services benefits. In 2010, Carmen Massimiano retired from being a three-decade long Sheriff. The Berkshire Eagle published a news article alleging Carmen Massimiano's reputation as a sexual deviant who molested a boy in the 1970's. The blogs alleged he was a sexual predator when he was a Camp Counselor at Camp Russell years ago. Many people have said they heard terrible rumors about Carmen Massimiano's sexual deviancy over the years. Yet, Carmen Massimiano was never charged and convicted of a sex crime. But, I read that one man committed suicide because of what Carmen Massimiano did to him. He gives me the creeps!

- Jonathan Melle

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9/28/2018

Over the years, many allegations have been made against Carmen Massimiano's alleged sexual deviancy and alleged child molestation, including his time as an alleged predatory camp counselor at Camp Russell many decades ago, and him allegedly fondling a then 7 year old boy at the Boys Club in the early 1970s. I even read one blog post that a man allegedly took his own life over what Carmen Massimiano allegedly did to him because he felt powerless to seek help and justice. If he or someone else spoke out against Carmen Massimiano, they would face retaliation, including harm to their family or loved ones, such as losing their job, being threatened, or being the target of bullying and vicious rumors. That is how powerful Carmen Massimiano is in Pittsfield!

Then there is Angelo Stracuzzi's alleged sexual deviancy and history of alleged child molestation.

Both Carmen and Angelo have been respective high profile leaders in Pittsfield politics.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh has many allegations made against him by at least 3 to 4 respective women that he either directly or indirectly allegedly sexually assaulted them, respectively.

In closing, whether it is Pittsfield politics or D.C. politics, there are always leaders who are alleged sexual deviants who have allegations of sexual assault against them.

- Jonathan Melle

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10/11/2018

North Adams is #1 for violent crime in 2016, as cited by the FBI. Pittsfield is #9. Obviously, the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office is failing to protect their communities from violent crime!

Then there is the framing of Bernard Baran by the Berkshire District Attorney's Office. The then-D.A., the late-Gerry Downing, hid tape recordings that would have exonerated Bernard Baran while he was incarcerated. It wasn't until after Downing's death that then D.A. David Capeless released the exculpatory evidence, which lead to Bernard Baran being released from state prison.

Then there is the case of former Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen Massimiano, who has been the subject of many allegations of sexual deviancy by alleged child molestation when he was a camp counselor at Camp Russell, and also when he was a volunteer at the Boys' Club where he allegedly fondled a then 7-year-old boy in the early 1970's. The Berkshire D.A.'s Office framed Bernard Baran, while they enabled Berkshire Sheriff Carmen Massimiano for decades.

I believe a documentary movie could be made about so-called criminal "justice" in Berkshire County! It could be called "Double lives and Double Standards"!

Obviously, the Berkshire County District Attorneys' Office has failed on many levels!

- Jonathan Melle

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July 1, 2020

Re: Carmen Massimiano died on June 25, 2020

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

I am sorry to read about the death of Carmen C. Massimiano, Jr., the former Sheriff of Berkshire County (Mass.), on your blog. But, I am only sorry about his passing because I am a caring human being who believes in granting mercy on my fellow human beings. Deep inside, I believe Carmen Massimiano was a despicable excuse for a human being.

For years, I read blog postings about Carmen Massimiano’s alleged sexual abuses of young boys from his teen years through his twenties (and possibly beyond his twenties). I even read a blog posting that said a mentally ill man took his own life over Carmen Massimiano’s sexual abuse of him when the alleged sexual abuse victim was a boy. Also, read the Berkshire Eagle’s coverage in early-2010 that Carmen Massimiano allegedly repeatedly sexually abused a then 7 year old boy at the Pittsfield (Mass.) Boys’ Club.

The Bernard Baran case, where they sent a teenage homosexual young man to state prison for decades, was the height of moral hypocrisy by Pittsfield’s sexual deviants, including Carmen Massimiano. Daniel Ford, the late Gerry Downing, Angelo Stracuzzi, Cliff Nilan, and the late Carmen Massimiano were the real homosexual deviants, while Bernard Baran was framed and railroaded by all of them. The late Gerry Downing hid the audio-tapes that proved Bernard Baran’s innocence until Gerry Downing’s death in late-2003. The next Berkshire District Attorney, David Capeless, released the exculpatory evidence a couple years later, and then Bernard Baran was freed from state prison.

My personal negative experiences with Carmen Massimiano includes then Pittsfield (Mass.) State Senator Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior trying to jail me when I was 22 years old during the Spring of 1998. Around 6 years later, in 2004, Carmen Massimiano approached me at an event for homeless Veterans in Pittsfield (Mass.), and he said to me that I should not feel safe now that I moved to Southern New Hampshire, and that he knew I know what they tried to do to me, and for me not to speak out about it. Of course, I defied Carmen Massimiano’s intimidating words, and I went on to write and blog about it all for many years now.

I hope people will come forward with their negative stories against the late Carmen Massimiano now that he cannot retaliate against them.

In Truth!

Jonathan Melle

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Hello again, Dan,

I always enjoy reading your awesome blog. The Catholic leaders of Pittsfield (Mass.) had a reputation of being homosexual deviants. I heard about it all since I was a young man. I have heard and read about Carmen Massimiano and Angelo Stracuzzi's alleged sexual abuse of young boys and/or underage teenage boys. I read that when Carmen Massimiano was a camp counselor at Camp Russell during his teenage years, he allegedly sexually abused young boys there. I read and heard that Carmen Massimiano allegedly sexually abused young boys, including at the Boys' Club in Pittsfield (Mass.). I read that Angelo Stracuzzi was arrested for sexually abusing underage teenage boys in Maine in 2004. I read that Cliff Nilan was reprimanded for not making Angelo Stracuzzi meet the requirements of his probation, including two years of psychological counseling for sexual deviancy. I heard rumors that Carmen and Cliff were in a homosexual relationship when they were young men. Cliff Nilan took over Carmen Massimiano's job as Chief Probation Officer in the Pittsfield Superior Court. I heard rumors that Gerry Downing frequented homosexual bars for men in Boston. Gerry Downing and Daniel Ford were prosecutors together who railroaded Bernard Baran in the 1980's. I was told that everyone who worked in the Pittsfield courts felt Bernard Baran was framed by Pittsfield's homosexual deviant Catholic leaders. I was told that the homosexual deviant Catholic Priests may have sexually abused Carmen Massimiano, Angelo Stracuzzi, Cliff Nilan, Gerry Downing, and Daniel Ford, which contributed to their secret double life as closeted homosexual deviant men. I read on the blogs that Bernard Baran knew about all of this, and Pittsfield's Catholic leaders wanted him out of the way. They used the children to frame and railroad Bernard Baran to meet their objectives. Berkshire County District Attorney Gerry Downing knowingly hid the audio tape recordings of the children that proved Bernard Baran was innocent of the sexual abuse against the children who were sexually abused by another man. Why did Gerard Downing hide the exculpatory evidence for around twenty years until his death in late-2003? Why did it take District Attorney David Capeless a couple of years to turn over the exculpatory evidence, which led to Bernard Baran to be released from state prison after over two decades of incarceration? Why did David Capeless resign and retire before his term in office officially ended? Why isn't anyone interviewing David Capeless about all of this? What does he know, and what really happened in the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office? Was Carmen Massimiano, Angelo Stracuzzi, Cliff Nilan, Daniel Ford involved in framing an innocent homosexual teenager to cover their own tracks? Would David Capeless come clean and finally tell the truth about the tragedy of the late Bernard Baran?

As for Carmen Massimiano reputation, he never made a pass at me. However, he was always very hostile towards me because I stood up to then state Senator Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr. after he filed multiple state "ethics" complaints against my dad, Bob Melle, when he was a Berkshire County Commissioner and Assistant Chief Probation Officer in the Pittsfield (Mass,) District Courthouse from the Fall of 1997 - the Spring of 1998. Nuciforo tried to jail me during the Spring of 1998 when I was 22 years old in order to try to send me to Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen Massimiano's Pittsfield jail. Carmen Massimiano was very loyal to Nuciforo. I asked my dad if he was a victim of Carmen Massimiano's alleged sexual abuse at Camp Russell. My dad said he was not one of his victims. My dad and Carmen Massimiano graduated in the same class of 1962 at Pittsfield High School. They were the same age. Carmen Massimiano allegedly sexually abused young boys when he was a camp counselor at Camp Russell.

I wish to say that Cliff Nilan was always very nice to me, and he was friends with my dad for many years. My dad speaks highly of Cliff Nilan. I feel bad about speaking negatively about Cliff Nilan because he is a good man who helps people. I also feel that I am unable to trust Cliff Nilan because his first loyalty is to some of my political enemies in Pittsfield politics. I have mixed feelings about Cliff Nilan. The rest of them are scumbags!

I respect you, Dan Valenti, and I believe you are a good man and a good Catholic. I share your love of our native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I share your criticisms of Pittsfield politics. I feel badly that Pittsfield fell to the lowest of the low over the decades. I hope things will get better in Pittsfield someday, but I am not holding my breath.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

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Carmen Massimiano

“Friends tackle legacy of longest-serving Berkshire sheriff”
By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle, July 1, 2020

Pittsfield — Family and friends gathered Monday afternoon to celebrate the life of the late Carmen C. Massimiano Jr., the longest serving sheriff in Berkshire County history.

While that funeral Mass was private, life was anything but for Massimiano.

This week, he's being recalled as a civic leader ahead of his time on approaches to crime and punishment who fought successfully, decades ago, to secure funding for a new county jail. Others remember his no-nonsense — and at times gruff — manner.

Massimiano died Thursday at the age of 75. At his family's wishes, Monday's funeral was not publicized and no formal obituary has been released. Associates say the family remains aggrieved by coverage about Massimiano in The Eagle in 2010.

Citing the breadth of Massimiano's public service, others are breaking what seems a surprising public silence about the man's passing. Massimiano closed a 32-year run as sheriff in 2010, when he declined to seek reelection, after first saying he would run. He remained on the city's Licensing Board until last year. Earlier, he served on the city's School Committee.

"Carmen Massimiano should be remembered as someone who loved this community and gave his entire being to improving this community," said James Ruberto, the former Pittsfield mayor who had appointed Massimiano to the Licensing Board. "He did it at times with uninhibited emotion, but always with the best intentions. He was rather a unique individual."

Though Massimiano stands a good chance of retaining his record tenure as sheriff for some time, Ruberto says he considers his legacy to be that of an educator, not only a lawman. "I think of him as someone who dedicated his life to the disadvantaged youth of the city of Pittsfield."

Aside from his time on the School Committee, Massimiano was a trustee of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. He sat on the panel that planned the new Taconic High School and in 2014 was inducted into the Catholic Schools of Pittsfield Hall of Fame.

As sheriff, Massimiano's nascent political connections helped him at the outset, when he was appointed in 1978 by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis. He had been serving as chief probation officer at the time.

Jail push

Massimiano took it from there, facing only one challenger, in 1980. Soon enough, he was mounting a campaign to replace the decrepit Second Street jail in Pittsfield.

Former state Rep. Christopher J. Hodgkins was serving both on the Ways & Means Committee and chairing the State Administration Committee when Massimiano came pitching the new jail on Cheshire Road.

"Never would have happened without him," Hodgkins said of the sheriff. "He had a great reputation statewide. And I was the one he pestered when he wanted to build the new jail. We worked hard to get the funding. He was like a dog on a bone about that. He was a leader."

The old jail, built in 1870, was considered fire-prone and seriously out of date, like many such jails in western Massachusetts.

State Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, was sitting on the former county commission when Massimiano took office and debate about new ways of handling corrections in Berkshire County arose.

"He was way ahead of his time," Barrett said. "He deserves a lot of credit. He started looking for a new jail right from the get-go. He was the new breed of sheriff at the time, believe it or not."

Beyond bricks and mortar, Barrett credits Massimiano with tackling human issues of incarceration, including addressing drug and alcohol problems.

"What was unique about Carmen was the number of innovative programs he introduced," Barrett recalled Wednesday. "He believed in rehabilitation of the prisoner."

Like Hodgkins, he credits Massimiano with getting the new jail up.

"There's no doubt it wouldn't have happened without Carmen. He had very strong political ties and the Berkshire delegation was supportive — and he got that money. He was a masterful politician, being able to establish relationships at the state level."

The new 160,000-square-foot Berkshire County Jail and House of Correction opened in 2001 after an investment of $34 million.

Bill O'Leary, of Richmond, the former state secretary of health and human services in the Weld and Celluci administrations, recalls Massimiano's arrival on the scene and his embrace of progressive correctional policies.

"There weren't many sheriffs who viewed their roles to be advocates of those types of efforts," O'Leary said. "He could be an extremely tough guy to deal with, but he was a significant supporter of community-based programs."

O'Leary also praised Massimiano's ability to build coalitions to get things done in Boston, including efforts to strengthen the Massachusetts Sheriff's Association. One of that group's former presidents, Michael G. Bellotti, refers to Massimiano as an "elder statesman" who knew how to cut through red tape.

Man's allegations

Massimiano's wife, Linda, declined an invitation to speak about her husband, saying she did not want to be interviewed by The Eagle. In February 2010, the paper reported that Pittsfield police had interviewed a man who claimed he had been sexually assaulted by Massimiano in 1971, when he was 7, and in 1976. No charges were filed against Massimiano related to the man's allegations, which concerned incidents at least 28 years earlier at the time of the first police interview, the paper reported.

A month before the story appeared, the accuser, then in his late 40s, convened a news conference outside the Pittsfield police station to speak of the alleged assaults — and followed up the next day by calling in to a live radio show.

Massimiano did not respond to repeated inquiries from the newspaper before publication, according to the story that appeared. Several days later, he issued a statement in which he said, "I want, first and foremost, to state unequivocally that there is no truth whatsoever to the allegations against me."

The sheriff later purchased a full-page ad in the newspaper to refute the man's claims, in which he asserted that his accuser had "a history of mental health issues." He refuted the man's claim that he had received an apology from the sheriff.

"I had nothing to apologize for," Massimiano said in the ad. He speculated that the accuser was being used to advance someone else's agenda, without specifying what that might entail.

Massimiano also accused The Eagle of producing a one-sided story and for quoting too little from the statement he submitted after the article appeared.

The issue generated community debate and letters to the editor, one of which called for Massimiano to be considered innocent, in the absence of proof of guilt.

A close friend of Massimiano said Wednesday he believes the allegations were unfounded. "What they did to him was outrageous," he said, speaking of The Eagle.

"They were allegations that never, never went anywhere," said Barrett, the lawmaker and former North Adams mayor.

The man whom police interviewed in 2004 and 2008 continued to stand by his claims.

Two people interviewed Wednesday said the allegations embittered Massimiano in his final years, as he dealt with health problems. When he announced in 2010 he would not seek another term as sheriff, Massimiano disclosed that he was receiving regular blood transfusions to treat a bone marrow deficiency — and had been for several years. He mentioned his health when stepping down last year from the Licensing Board.

Priest's homily

Monday afternoon's service at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Pittsfield was presided over by the Rev. Peter Gregory, its pastor emeritus. Among those who attended were former Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina, a cousin, and Michael J. Ashe Jr., the former Hampden County sheriff.

"I just thought the world of Carmen," Ashe said. "Carmen was at the forefront of humanizing corrections. He believed you could change inmates' lives with quality programs and could motivate and inspire inmates."

"He was a real strong believer in education," Ashe said. "And he certainly brought a lot of humor and a lot of wit to the sheriffs as a whole."

Gregory said that in deference to family wishes, he would not speak about Massimiano's passing. But he agreed to describe the message he imparted in his homily during the funeral Mass. Gregory said he had known Massimiano since he was 15 and his lifelong friend was just 10.

"God sees all of us as perfect," Gregory said, recalling his words Monday. "It's mankind who sees imperfection in man."

"No one has the right on this Earth to judge anyone," he said. "Carmen has reached perfection."

Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com, at @larryparnass on Twitter and 413-588-8341.

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July 2, 2020

Re: I am not celebrating Carmen Massimiano’s demise

I am sad that Carmen Massimiano died less than one month from his 76th birthday. I am not celebrating his demise. I believe in being a caring human being and showing mercy to all of my fellow human beings. I never want to go down to the level of people who choose to hurt others as an individual or part of a group. We all have choices in life on whether to be a good person during our short time on Earth, or whether to waste our limited time on Earth hating and hurting others.

What do I want people to know about my feelings about Carmen Massimiano’s death last Thursday, June 25th, 2020? I want people to know that former Pittsfield (Mass.) State Senator Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr. and his political network, including former Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen Massimiano, really hurt me since I was 20 years old after I first meant Nuciforo a Democratic Party candidate forum in Dalton (Mass.) during the Spring of 1996.

For years, Nuciforo conspiratorially had people bully me without Nuciforo leaving behind his own proverbial fingerprint/DNA. For a couple of years, I was an unsuspecting young man who did not understand what was happening to me and my dad, former Berkshire County Commissioner Bob Melle. But by the Sping of 1998, when I was 22 years old, I began to catch on to Nuciforo’s mean-spirited strategies of manipulating me, my dad, and events to hurt people like me and my dad in Pittsfield politics.

Nuciforo hurt me in so many ways and on so many levels over the past +24-years. His henchmen bullies threatened to assault and batter me, picked on me without mercy, manipulated me by putting me in abusive socially inappropriate situations, spread vicious rumors against me, blacklisted me from employment, and gave false allegations and information against me to the police, including Nuciforo secretly trying to have me arrested during the Spring of 1998 in order to try to send me to then Berkshire County Sheriff’s Pittsfield Jail.

Nuciforo also filed multiple state “ethics” complaints against my dad in Pittsfield and Boston to multiple state agencies in order to try to get my dad fired from his state job at the Pittsfield Courthouse and force my dad to resign from his elected position on the Berkshire County Commission. If Nuciforo had succeeded with all of his mean-spirited politics, I would have ended up in Carmen Massimiano’s Pittsfield jail, while my dad’s decades long career in the Pittsfield Courthouse would have been ruined.

In previous email letters, I expressed my dismay over the tragedy of a then homosexual young adult teenager in the 1980’s who was framed and railroaded to decades in Massachusetts’ State Prison by Pittsfield’s closeted homosexual Catholic leaders named the late Gerry Downing, Daniel Ford, the late Carmen Massimiano, Angelo Stracuzzi, and Cliff Nilan. Like the tragedy of the late Bernard Baran, I believe that I was persecuted for many years of my adult life by Nuciforo, Carmen Massimiano, and many other corrupt people involved in Pittsfield politics.

I am thankful that Nuciforo did not succeed in ruining my family’s lives. I am heartbroken for the late Bernard Baran and his family. I believe the Internet and blogs have changed Pittsfield politics from its unjust past. The corrupt Catholic leaders of Pittsfield politics are no longer in office or political power. Some of them have passed away, while others have been exposed for the scumbags they really are.

I am disgusted with former Pittsfield Mayor Jimmy Ruberto and North Adams State Representative John Barrett III for defending the indefensible legacy of Carmen Massimiano. Ruberto and Barrett have no conscience to falsely say Carmen Massimiano cared about people when he hurt so many innocent people to rule Pittsfield politics by fear and retribution.

I want the Catholic leaders of Pittsfield, as well as John Barrett in North Adams, to remember that the purpose of government is for politicians to serve the people instead of hurting them. Carmen Massimiano ruled by fear and retribution, and he hurt anyone who stood in the way of his power. Carmen Massimiano’s legacy will stand as a symbol of the end of an era because good people will use the power of the Internet, emails, social media, and blogs to expose political corruption in provincial areas like Pittsfield and Berkshire County.

In closing, I am not celebrating the end of Carmen Massimiano’s life. I will always make a choice to be a decent human being who cares about my fellow human beings and treat others with mercy. I hope to be everything in my life that Carmen Massimiano was not in his life.

In Truth!

Jonathan Melle

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July 3, 2020

Re: Carmen Massimiano – All in the Family

Hello Berkshire Eagle Editors,

It was “All in the Family” when it came to Carmen Massimiano’s decades long domination over Pittsfield politics. Everyone who was on Carmen’s mafia-like good side were mostly all somehow related to him. He pulled strings to put family members of his in high status jobs in the Pittsfield Courthouse and County Jail. If you weren’t part of his “All in the Family” Good Old Boys club, then you had to kiss their dirty behinds to stay on Carmen’s good side.

I learned about it all the hard way. My dad, Bob Melle, worked in the Pittsfield Courthouse for a little over three decades, and he served 3.5 years on the Berkshire County Commission (because Nuciforo and then North Adams State Representative Daniel Bosley abolished Berkshire County Government effective July 1, 2000). Carmen’s favorite political family member, then Pittsfield State Senator Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, tried to hurt my dad by filing multiple state “ethics” complaints against my dad from the Fall of 1997 – Spring of 1998. When I was at U Mass Amherst, one of my college Professors said he confronted Senator Nuciforo on Beacon Hill and asked him why he was trying to hurt me. Nuciforo lied to my college Professor and said he hopes things work out for me. There were people in Massachusetts politics who knew that Nuciforo was targeting me with threats, bullying and retribution. When I confronted Nuciforo about him filing “ethics” complaints against my dad, he told the Pittsfield Police Department that I made “veiled threats” against him.

In comes then Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano, Jr., whose Pittsfield Jail I was supposed to go to after the PPD would have arrested me during the Spring and Summer of 1998 when I was 22 and turned 23 years of age. In 2004, I returned to Pittsfield to attend a dedication of a homeless shelter for homeless and at-risk homeless Veterans. Carmen Massimiano approached me and told me that he knew I knew what they tried to do to me, and for me to not speak out about it, and that I should not feel safe now that my family and I moved to Southern New Hampshire.

Over the years, I have read a lot of blog postings about Carmen Massimiano (and Angelo Stracuzzi, Cliff Nilan, the late Gerry Downing, and Daniel Ford). These Catholic leaders of Pittsfield politics were the real homosexual deviants who either allegedly sexually abused children and/or underage teenage boys or knew about it all. They targeted the now late Bernard Baran, who was a homosexual teenage young man in the 1980s, by framing him for the sexual abuses of young children in Pittsfield. Prosecutors Gerry Downing and Daniel Ford knowingly hid audio tape recordings of children proving Bernard Baran was innocent. Gerry Downing hid the exculpatory evidence through his death in the late-2003. It took Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless a couple of years to release the audio tape recordings of the children to the appeals court. After the exculpatory evidence was released to the appeals court, Bernard Baran was released from prison after he was incarcerated in Massachusetts State Prison for over two decades. He (Bernard Baran) passed away a few years later.

I read the blog postings about Carmen Massimiano’s teenage years where he was a Camp Counselor at the Boys’ Club Camp Russell. He allegedly sexually abused many young boys during his teenage years at Camp Russell. I even read that a mentally ill man committed suicide because he could not deal with the painful trauma allegedly inflicted on him by Carmen Massimiano’s alleged sexual abuse of him when he was a young boy at Camp Russell. The suicidal man felt powerless to speak out against Carmen Massimiano because Carmen Massimiano would have used his power to hurt him and his family. I read the Berkshire Eagle’s early-2010 news articles about Carmen Massimiano allegedly repeatedly sexually abusing a then seven year old boy at the Pittsfield Boys’ Club when Carmen Massimiano was in his 20’s.

The Berkshire Eagle Editors credit Carmen Massimiano for his political support for the new Berkshire County Jail in Pittsfield, as well as the new Taconic High School, but he did not lead. Instead, Carmen Massimiano dominated Pittsfield politics and hurt anyone who stood in his way, including me.

In closing, I hope the legacy of Carmen Massimiano in Pittsfield politics will come to an immediate end. I believe people should be free of retribution from a mafia like provincial political family led by Carmen Massimiano and finally reclaim their state and local government for democracy, equality, and justice.

In Truth!

Jonathan Melle

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Our Opinion: “A notable but complicated career”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, July 2, 2020

Possessing a bulldog's tenacity, Carmen C. Massimiano Jr. was accustomed to getting what he wanted — most significantly a new Berkshire House of Correction. Blunt and at times abrasive, friends and political allies also remember a man with a sharp wit and a dedication to rehabilitation that put him ahead of the curve among his contemporaries.

Mr. Massimiano, who died last week at the age of 75, was Berkshire County's longest-serving sheriff, holding office for 32 years before choosing not to run again in 2010. He also served for many years on the city's Licensing Board and on the School Committee and was seen as a power-broker with political savvy and a ruthless tactician. ("Massimiano leaves legacy both lasting and complex," Larry Parnass, Eagle, July 2.)

He needed all of that political savvy and his characteristic tenacity to fulfill his goal of replacing the decrepit county jail on Second Street, which was built in 1870 and not designed to encourage rehabilitation, with a new state-of-the-art facility in Cheshire. Working with legislative allies in the Berkshires, and plowing his way through red tape, the sheriff pushed the project to the finish line in 2001, when the $34 million, 160,000-square-foot facility opened. State Rep. John Barrett III, the long-time former mayor of North Adams, is among those who credited Sheriff Massimiano with helping inmates address problems of drug and alcohol addiction so they would be better able to rejoin society upon their release and not end up beyond bars.

Mr. Massimiano's dozen years on the School Committee, during the course of which he sat on the panel that planned the new Taconic High School, testified to his dedication to education. His tenure on the school board ended when he finished seventh and last in the vote to fill six seats on the board, a result he told The Eagle he found "curious." Mr. Massimiano's blunt, intimidating manner and impatience with those who got in the way of his goals, like some Morningside residents who differed with him about the future of the old jail building, may have triggered a backlash that manifested itself in that School Committee election in 2010. That loss came a few months before his decision not to run for another term as sheriff, which he appeared poised to do.

Mr. Massimiano had an uneasy relationship with the press, including the Berkshire Eagle, which in the latter case essentially came to an end in 2010 when The Eagle reported that Pittsfield police had interviewed a man who claimed that as a child roughly three decades earlier Mr. Massimiano had sexually assaulted him. Mr. Massimiano vigorously denied the allegations and no charges were filed. He accused The Eagle of one-sided reporting and purchased a full-page ad in the newspaper in which he said the accuser had "a history of mental health issues." The man continued to stand by his allegations, while Mr. Massimiano's family remains angry with The Eagle to this day.

Mr. Massimiano will be remembered for his accomplishments, and perhaps his strong-arming manner was necessary to achieve them. But there were those who felt bullied by Mr. Massimiano and believed they were disregarded if their interests conflicted with his own. The legacy he leaves is complicated and may be viewed differently in ways positive and negative as the years go by.

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July 3, 2020

I am not "celebrating the death of Carmen Massimiano". I choose to be a caring person who shows mercy to all of my fellow human beings. I never want to go down to his level of hurting people he doesn't like or stood in his way of Carmen Massimiano's decades long dominating rule of Pittsfield politics. Carmen was part of an old school ring of Pittsfield Catholic political leaders and homosexual deviants who either sexually abused children or knew all about it. What the Good Old Catholic Boys like Carmen Massimiano, Gerry Downing, Daniel Ford, Angelo Stracuzzi, and Cliff Nilan did to the hurt and ruin the life of Bernard Baran was pure evil. Pittsfield's Catholic so-called leaders were the homosexual deviants who abused children or knew all about it, but they persecuted Bernard Baran by framing and railroading him to serving over two decades of Hell in Massachusetts State Prison. I, along with many others, believe they wanted Bernard Baran out of their way. That was exactly the terrible and horrible legacy of Carmen Massimiano in a nutshell. If Carmen Massimiano did not dominate Pittsfield politics, he would hurt anybody who stood in his way of ultimate power over Pittsfield, Massachusetts. What frustrated me the most about Carmen Massimiano's domination over Pittsfield was that he ensured his family had high status and high paying jobs in Pittsfield, especially at the Pittsfield Courthouse or the Berkshire County Jail in Pittsfield. If you weren't part of Carmen's mafia like political family, you had to kiss his and Pittsfield's Good Old Boys' dirty behinds to not be subject to their abuses and retributions. Many people in Pittsfield and Berkshire County lived in fear and/or experienced painful traumas at the hands of Carmen Massimiano over the decades. If you stood up to Carmen's mafia-like political family, you would be subject to many wrongs. I experienced this first hand when I was in my 20's. I was hurt by Pittsfield politics' interrelated families who obliterated anything that stood in their way of dominating a one political party China-like state and local governmental system. My dad was hurt by them, too, but not nearly as badly as they burned me. My revenge is to write about it all in letters, emails, and blogs. We live in the 21st Century now where provincial areas like Pittsfield, Berkshire County, and mostly rural Western Massachusetts is subject to the power of the Internet. In closing, I really hope that the legacy of Carmen Massimiano and all he stood for in Pittsfield politics will come to an immediate end. If there is another mafia-like Pittsfield politics boss like Carmen Massimiano, I hope people will use the power of the Internet to expose his or her political corruption wherever it may occur.

- Jonathan Melle

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July 4, 2020

Re: The “C" in Carmen stood for Cover-ups

On Dan Valenti’s blog, “JoePesci” wrote in Reply to Jonathan Melle:

He was entitled to due process like everybody else. As far as has been reported, only one alleged victim ever came forward, and he was years too late. There was no coverup by Capeless or anyone else.
Unless some new victims are going to come forward, then there is nothing to see here folks.

My (Jonathan Melle’s) response to “JoePesci”

Things were different back in the late-1950’s through the mid-1970’s when Carmen Massimiano was a teenager and in his 20’s when the allegations of many of his alleged sexual abuses of young boys occurred when he was a camp counselor at the Boys’ Club Camp Russell and was a presence at Jim Mooney’s Boys’ Club in Pittsfield (Mass.) There was no due process for the many young boy victims of Carmen Massimiano’s alleged sexual abuse because it was a different era in criminal justice in Berkshire County and beyond. Just look at the Catholic Church during that era when Catholic Priests allegedly sexually abused so many children. It took decades for them to receive justice.

I wholly disagree with you about Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless or anyone else. I read all about the tragedy of Bernard Baran, who was framed for being a homosexual teenager in the 1980’s by Prosecutors Gerry Downing and Daniel Ford. I read that Gerry Downing knowingly hid audio tape recordings of children that proved Bernard Baran was innocent of sexually abusing young children. It was not until a couple of years after Berkshire County District Attorney Gerry Downing died in late-2003 that the next Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless released the long hidden audio tapes to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, which led to Bernard Baran being released from Massachusetts State Prison after over two decades of Hell, including Bernard Baran being subject to many rapes and beatings.

Carmen Massimiano was part of a ring of old school Catholic leaders in Pittsfield politics, which included the late Gerry Downing, Daniel Ford, Angelo Stracuzzi, and Cliff Nilan, who were all closeted homosexual deviants who either sexually abused children or knew all about it. They all used their power over Pittsfield and Berkshire County to cover-up their alleged crimes. Carmen Massimiano hurt anybody who stood in his way of his dominating rule over Pittsfield politics. It was impossible for victims of Carmen Massimiano to come forward when he was part of the ring of corrupt Catholic leaders in Pittsfield (Mass.) who all protected each other from due process.

In Truth!

Jonathan Melle

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Posted on Dan Valenti's blog "Planet Valenti" by "Flogging Molly" on July 4, 2020:

Why doesn’t someone ask the family of Turtle Sheeran who ate a shotgun due to Carmen’s bullying

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July 4, 2020

There were times in my life when I was a victim of crimes, including by a lying Manchester, NH city Police Officer named John Cunningham. Most of the time after I was victimized, I went to people with administrative or legal authority, only to be told that it wasn't in my interest to pursue legal recourse or due process of law against the respective suspect who wronged me. When I was arrested in downtown Manchester, NH on June 7th, 2007, Police Officer John Cunningham used illegal uses of force against me and lied about it all during my several years of so-called due process. I was up against the legal system, and he knew he could get away with illegally assaulting me. All these years later, John Cunningham never came clean. That is how it is when you deal with bullies who hold the upper hand. Carmen Massimiano was similar to many bullies because he was untouchable in Pittsfield, Massachusetts - similar to John Cunningham being untouchable in Manchester, New Hampshire. In closing, Carmen Massimiano was part of a ring of corrupt Catholic leaders in Pittsfield who controlled the court system. To illustrate, many of Carmen Massimiano's relatives and cronies held high status and high paying positions in the Pittsfield (Mass.) Courthouse.

- Jonathan Melle

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July 6, 2020

Hello Rinaldo [Del Gallo III],

With the June 25th (2020) death of Carmen Massimiano, Dan Valenti's awesome blog has discussed Pittsfield's scary path of local Catholic leaders (Carmen Massimiano, Angelo Stracuzzi, Cliff Nilan, the late Gerry Downing, and Daniel Ford) being part of a ring of sexual abusers against children. The tragedy of Bernard Baran may be the topic that bursts Pittsfield's decades long bubble of secrecy.

I always read your op-ed pieces, where you bring your legal analysis of political issues facing Pittsfield (Mass.) and beyond. I have a request for you to please write an op-ed about the tragedy of Bernard Baran. In particular, I hope to read your written thoughts about Prosecutors Gerry Downing and Daniel Ford withholding audio tape recordings of the children they accused Bernard Baran of sexually abusing from his trial in the 1980's until a couple of years after Berkshire County District Attorney Gerry Downing's death in late-2003. Why did it take the next Berkshire County District Attorney, David Capeless, so long to release the long hidden exculpatory evidence to the Massachusetts Appeals Court that led to Bernard Baran being released from Massachusetts State Prison? How could something so wrong and illegal happen for over two decades? Why doesn't the Berkshire Eagle cover any of this? Would the Berkshire Eagle publish your op-ed? What are your written thoughts about the tragedy of Bernard Baran, who was a then teenage young adult homosexual man in the 1980's, who was framed and railroaded by the illegal prosecution by Gerry Downing and Daniel Ford back in the 1980's? Why doesn't David Capeless come clean about his role in all of this?

Rinaldo, you are a good friend of mine. I support your political advocacy. On a personal note, the tragedy of the late Bernard Baran bothers my conscience. I believe someone out there should get to the bottom of all of what happened to this persecuted homosexual man named Bernard Baran who was raped and beaten over and over again in Massachusetts State Prison for over two decades for crimes he did not commit. I believe he knew sensitive information about homosexually deviant Pittsfield's Catholic leaders, so they used every unethical trick in the proverbial book to get him out of the way to save their own skin and cover their own behinds.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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