Mayor Marty Walsh issues statement on guilty verdicts in Boston Calling extortion trial

“I am surprised and disappointed.”

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– News covered by Quincy Quarry News.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said via a statement Wednesday afternoon that he was “surprised and disappointed” following the guilty verdicts in the extortion trial of two senior Boston City Hall officials.

Kenneth Brissette, the city’s director of tourism, and Timothy Sullivan, chief of intergovernmental affairs, were convicted of conspiring to extort the founders of the Boston Calling music festival.

Prosecutors said the two men illegally put pressure on the festival organizers into hiring union stagehands for the event in order to please Walsh.

Walsh issued the following written statement after the guilty verdicts were announced:

I am shocked, shocked …
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“I am surprised and disappointed.  I have made clear from the beginning that there is only one way to do things in my Administration and that is the right way.  I have always believed that their hearts were in the right place.  We have taken several measures at the City of Boston to ensure that every employee has the right tools and training to perform at the highest ethical standards, which has always been my expectation.”

Kenneth Brissette was convicted of both charges he was facing – Hobbs Act conspiracy and Hobbs Act extortion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.  Timothy Sullivan was convicted of Hobbs Act conspiracy.

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According to the Boston broadsheet, both men face a maximum of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy convictions, and Brissette faces the same maximum penalty for his extortion conviction.

Shortly after their convictions, both men resigned from their senior City of Boston jobs.

Source: Mayor Marty Walsh issues statement on verdict in Boston Calling extortion trial

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