By Josh Resnek
The mayor is continuing to pay criminal lawyers huge sums of money for representation causing some concern among the members of the city council who are asking, why?
Councilors at Large Mike Marchese, Gerly Adrien and Councilor Mike McLaughlin are all asking the mayor to be transparent with the city council and the people of the city.
“If he’s under criminal investigation, or he’s signed agreements with the FBI as an informant, he should let the city council know why,” said Councilor Mike Marchese.
Marchese said he will be calling the mayor before the city council for answers.
“I am wondering what is going on with the mayor,” Councilor Adrien said. “Campaign finance reports show the mayor’s legal costs are over $100,000 for criminal lawyers. As an elected official, I am looking for transparency. What is happening?” she added.
“Does Council President Rosa DiFlorio need more understanding of what’s going on with the mayor just in case? I think so,” Adrien said. Adrien said the mayor must be held to a higher standard. McLaughlin said the two years of paying criminal lawyers without informing the city why is eye opening and alarming for many residents. “Is he allowed to pay the criminal lawyers with funds from his campaign account? I don’t know. I’ve never known a mayor to do this,” added McLaughlin.
“At the very least, the people of this city, and his own contributors have a right t know why he’s spending more than $5000 a month for criminal legal representation,” Marchese said.
“The days of him being unaccountable to the city council are over,” he added.
DeMaria has paid Traurig Greenberg of International Place, Boston $160,000 since 2018 and paid as well a criminal attorney now a Superior Court Judge an additional $30,000 to represent him when the US Attorney’s office and the FBI came knocking on his door.
“Is he the subject of an investigation or not?” Marchese wonders. “The city council should know if the mayor of Everett is facing possible arrest or indictment,” he said.
Others on the council who wished to remain unnamed said if he has nothing to hide then he should inform the council.
“The mayor must be transparent and he isn’t,” added another councilor.
DeMaria is alleged to have charged the owners of the casino land a kickback in return for the city’s support, according to a lawsuit filed last year in Federal Court.
The Leader Herald has interviewed a witness who has detailed exactly how the kickback was paid and what the amount was and who facilitated it for the mayor.
DeMaria claims he has never acted as an informant for the FBI. The mayor dismisses such talk as lies.
The Leader Herald last year printed an official copy of the proffer agreement DeMaria signed with the US Attorney’s office. It is printed again in this edition of the Leader Herald.
That proffer agreement, which shows clearly the mayor’s signature and the signature of Assistant US Attorney Kristina Barclay indicates in simple language that he has signed up to do the work of an FBI informant or face prosecution.
Proffers are open ended. For the FBI, if a time frame is not indicated, the proffer stands.
The proffer does not guarantee immunity from prosecution even if the signer has cooperated with the FBI.
DeMaria has told friends and supporters the proffer agreement is fake news and that the Leader Herald lied printing such a document.
“I want to know what these legal payments are for,” Marchese said.
“If his legal firm is paying off a sexual harassment law suit, we need to know about that,” he said.
“If the mayor is under Federal investigation, we need to know about that, too.”