HAMILTON — For more than two years since he was charged in an EMT recertification scandal that rocked the town of Hamilton, the question has lingered: Why would James W. Foley, retired from his job as a police lieutenant in neighboring Wenham, take part?
Yesterday, as Foley pleaded guilty in court to charges of attempting to obstruct justice and violating the state's emergency medical training law, his attorneys offered an answer.
Lawyer Randy Chapman told a judge that Foley wanted to be able to take care of his twin daughters in an emergency, so he and his wife decided that he should keep up his EMT certification.
"This was not something where he received some financial gain," Chapman told Judge Timothy Feeley yesterday.
But Foley attended only a few classes, an introductory portion of what was supposed to be a 24-hour refresher course. And then, like former Hamilton police Chief Walter Cullen, five Hamilton officers, four Danvers officers, and a state trooper, he allowed rosters for classes he never attended to be submitted to the state Office of Emergency Medical Services for his recertification as an EMT, falsely claiming to have attended the classes.
Like Cullen, Foley was spared a record of conviction — not to save his pension, which he cashed out long ago, but to ease his job search in the future.
Feeley, who last week granted Cullen a continuation without a finding for 18 months, yesterday did the same for Foley, 50, of Ipswich.
The disposition means that while Foley admitted that he was guilty of both charges, the charges will be dismissed if he stays out of further trouble for the next 18 months and pays $2,000 in restitution.
"It seems to me, looking at the various defendants, that Mr. Foley's case does have some unique aspects," Feeley said. "There was no economic benefit to Mr. Foley at the time he sought recertification. This was not done to advance his professional interests. He did not put the public at risk."
Assistant Attorney General Edward Beagan, who was urging a guilty finding and a two-year suspended jail term with two years of probation for Foley, said that Foley, once faced with the realization that his non-attendance at the refresher courses had been discovered, tried to cover up his crime.
"Rather than simply telling the truth and accepting the consequences, (Foley) added another layer of fraud to the episode" when he lied to the grand jury looking into the scheme, further undermining the public's trust, Beagan said.
Foley insisted that he had attended the November 2006 refresher classes at the Essex fire station — classes, it turns out, that were never held.
During that testimony, when he was asked if Cullen, whose name was also on the roster for that course, was there, Foley said he did not recall seeing him there.
That triggered another look and ultimately led to the indictments of Cullen, Foley and two others. The nine local officers were also disciplined, though not charged criminally.
Chapman described his client as a single father raising twin 13-year-old girls on his savings from a police pension he cashed out after retiring.
Foley's wife committed suicide in 2007, Chapman told the judge, leaving Foley the sole support for the girls.
He had spent 24 years as a police officer, first in Hamilton for a year and then in Wenham, where he rose from patrolman to lieutenant. Foley, an Ipswich selectman, left in 2005 to take a position as acting town manager in Ipswich, then later became the executive director of what Chapman described as a "private trust."
That trust, the Feoffees of the Grammar School of Ipswich, is currently involved in a trial over their desire to dissolve a 17th century land trust and sell parcels of property on Little Neck in Ipswich. The town, which is supposed to receive the proceeds of rents on the land, is opposing the move.
Foley stepped down from that position as a result of the litigation and is now looking for a new job, a search that has been hampered by the pending case, Chapman said.
Feeley said in announcing his decision to grant the continuation, a seldom-used procedure in Superior Court, that none of the others charged in the scheme served jail time.
But both Henry Michalski, a decorated Vietnam veteran who served as fire chief in both Ipswich and Middleton before his retirement, and David Mastrianni, Cullen's son-in-law, who ran the training programs for the town's ambulance service, now have criminal records. They pleaded guilty before a different judge, John Lu.
Michalski, who ran training programs for Lyons Ambulance, pleaded guilty to perjury, a bid to protect others, including Cullen, during the grand jury investigation.
Mastrianni was asked by Cullen to conduct the required refresher and continuing ed courses, though he raised concerns about not having time to schedule all of them. He wound up leaving attendance rosters for officers to sign, without holding most of the classes.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis may be reached at 978-338-2521 or at jmanganis@salemnews.com.
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
