Sal DiMasi: Early Release Requested for Ex-House Speaker Convicted on Federal Corruption Charges

Federal prosecutors are reportedly requesting an early release for former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who was sentenced to prison in 2011 after being found guilty of conspiracy, extortion and other political corruption-related charges.

The most damaging counts included extortion and conspiracy to defraud citizens of honest services related to contracts awarded to Cognos, a software company, in exchange for up to $65,000 in kickbacks, as Patch reported at the time.

DiMasi, who lived in Boston's North End, claimed innocence at the time.

Now 71, federal prosecutors are asking a federal judge to release DiMasi two years early, in what The Boston Globe calls "a remarkable turnaround."

According to The Globe, DiMasi has battled multiple bouts of cancer, and prosecutors are making their request under the Department of Justice’s compassionate release program. He was originally scheduled for release in November 2018.

Read more from The Boston Globe here.

Photo by Pampinea Cohorter, via Wikimedia Commons