The latest alleged law enforcement misconduct in Mass, Oct. 12-25

Here are the media reports of alleged law enforcement misconduct in Massachusetts that I’ve tracked during the last two weeks.

First, here are the incidents involving ICE:

• “A federal judge [on October 12] ordered ICE to immediately release an immigrant whose $1,500 bond payment ICE seems unable to process. … [Jose Antonio Alves dos Santos] had his hearing Oct. 9, at which an immigration judge set bond at $1,500. But he remained locked up … [and] his attorney filed an emergency motion to have him freed.” (Universal Hub)
• “Nearly 100 people gathered outside Everett City Hall on [October 14] to protest the recent detention of a 13-year-old student and to demand that city leaders do more to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The teen … was arrested by police at a bus stop [October 9] for allegedly posing a violent threat to another student. He was soon picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is now being held at a juvenile detention facility in Virginia. An attorney for the boy’s family says they are from Brazil and are in the country legally with a pending asylum claim.” (GBH)
• “A judge [on October 16] ordered the superintendent of the Plymouth County jail to immediately release four men whom immigration judges had set the equivalent of bail for, but who remained locked up because of an ICE interpretation of immigration law that no judges in Boston have signed onto.” (Universal Hub)
• “[The Department of Homeland Security] refuses to destroy data it sucked out of [an] immigration lawyer’s phone, says it needs it to prove he’s employing 117 [undocumented workers]; but [his law] firm doesn’t have that many employees.” (Universal Hub)
• “A Boston federal judge [on October 20] ordered the immediate release of an Ecuadorean national living in Framingham who was detained by the Border Patrol in Maine on May 14, handed over to ICE, shipped to Youngstown, OH, ordered released on July 1 on payment of a $15,000 bond, grabbed by Homeland Security in New Hampshire on July 25, shipped down to the Plymouth County jail and ordered released again by an immigration judge in Chelmsford on Aug. 4, on just $1,500 bond. Only this time ICE refused to let him out as it appealed his bond to the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, VA. In a ruling [on October 20], US District Court Judge Indira Talwani said enough.” (Universal Hub)
• “Attorneys for a Chelsea man who was just deported are calling his case a miscarriage of justice, saying he should not have been sent back to his native Guatemala while an immigration judge was actively considering his appeal. Sara Nael, an attorney representing 35-year-old Sergio Ayala Mejia, said her client had a pending appeal to reopen his immigration case and that it was highly unusual for a deportation to proceed when a ruling on an appeal is imminent.” (GBH)
• “A federal judge [on October 22] ordered [ICE] to return an immigrant to Massachusetts immediately, after ICE said it shipped her from a prison in New Jersey to one in Texas because another judge’s initial order not to move the woman without notification only said it couldn’t move her out of Massachusetts without notifying a judge why, and she had already been moved to New Jersey.” (Universal Hub)
• “An Afghan man battling brain cancer is on his way back to his home in Lowell after spending more than a month in federal immigration detention. Ihsanullah Garay was granted bond by an immigration judge in Georgia on [October 24]. … Garay’s student visa is expired, but his lawyer, Hans Bremer, said he has an active work authorization and no criminal record. His attorney also said Garay has applied for political asylum.” (WBUR)

Next are the incidents involving state and local law enforcement. First, if you haven’t read it yet, check out my story from last week about the case of Rickey “FuQuan” McGee, whose disputed murder conviction involves allegations that police and prosecutors withheld important evidence from the defense.

Boston Judge Frees Man While He Fights to Overturn 1998 Murder Conviction—With Prosecutors’ Help

Rickey “FuQuan” McGee spent 28 years in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Now, prosecutors agree his convictions should be overturned.

The Mass DumpAndrew Quemere

And here are the other stories involving state and local law enforcement:

• “A new report is calling for the establishment of a civilian oversight system in Worcester, one of the few major American cities without such a mechanism. The Worcester Regional Research Bureau’s report highlights deficiencies in the current oversight systems of the Worcester Police Department, particularly the lack of transparency in investigation results and the absence of subpoena power. … The Research Bureau’s report comes on the heels of a 2024 federal investigation that found that the Worcester Police Department had a pattern of ‘outrageous government conduct,’ ‘excessive force,’ and ‘sexual misconduct’ by officers.” (Boston 25)
• “A former Massachusetts State Police sergeant was sentenced to six years in prison [on October 14] for masterminding a scheme to rig commercial driver’s license tests in exchange for bribes that ranged from snacks and water bottles to a new driveway. Gary Cederquist, 60, of Stoughton, was one of four troopers charged in the State Police CDL scandal in January 2024. The only defendant to go to trial, he was convicted of dozens of federal charges earlier this year.” (Boston.com)
• “An independent investigation into the Haverhill Police Department begins [October 16], following recent turmoil within the department and growing concerns from officers and staff. Mayor Melinda Barrett announced the review, which will be led by Attorney Regina Ryan of Discrimination and Harassment Solutions LLC. Ryan will examine internal operations and policies, focusing on complaints about former Chief Robert Pistone and Deputy Chief Stephen Doherty.” (Boston 25)
• “A trial date has been set for the former Massachusetts police officer accused of killing Sandra Birchmore after grooming her for years. Matthew Farwell’s [federal] jury trial is scheduled for Oct. 5, 2026, and is expected to last four weeks. … Farwell, a former Stoughton police detective, faces a charge of killing a witness or victim, for which he could be sentenced to death if he’s convicted.” (NBC10 Boston)
• “Lawmakers said [on October 14] they plan to withhold the ‘majority’ of $162 million that Gov. Maura Healey … earmarked to cover spending by the sheriffs that went over budget, raising ‘serious questions and concerns,’ according to a press release from legislative leaders. … [Rep. Aaron Michlewitz] and Senate budget chief Sen. Michael Rodrigues said the Legislature plans to withhold the extra funds incurred by sheriffs until Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro conducts an investigation into their spending habits.” (WBUR)
• “The lead investigator in the Karen Read murder case [Michael Proctor] has withdrawn his appeal to regain his job with the Massachusetts State Police, following new revelations about his conduct. … Investigators have now uncovered additional messages and videos on his personal phone that may impact other cases he worked on.” (Boston 25)
• “The state’s police oversight board has decertified a former Leominster officer with a history of alcohol-related infractions, including a drunken driving arrest in Massachusetts and an incident in New York when he flashed his badge at a restaurant and “forcibly kissed” the bartender, records show. The POST Commission’s Oct. 16 ruling means Christopher Cunningham, 41, can’t ever work as a police officer in Massachusetts again.” (Boston Globe; paywalled)
• “A wrongfully convicted man who spent 15 years in prison is suing the city of Boston and several former police detectives, alleging they framed him for murder nearly 50 years ago. … [The lawsuit by Milton Jones alleges] that retired Boston police detectives, including defendants Louis McConkey, Peter O’Malley and John J. Daley, fabricated ‘false eyewitness identifications’ and withheld key evidence that would have proved Jones’ innocence.” (WBUR)
• “A scathing investigative report … reveals a culture of abuse and degradation at the new state-run East Falmouth Police Academy. The document outlines complaints of physical injuries to recruits, details how student officers in the academy’s 1st Recruit Officer Course (ROC) were mentally and physically abused, forced into punitive physical training, and denied bathroom breaks.” (Boston 25)
• “A federal appeals court [on October 23] revived part of a suit over the fatal shooting of a man with a knife suffering a mental-health crisis in a Newton Highlands apartment building in 2021. A Boston federal judge last year had dismissed the entire suit by the parents of Michael Conlon against Newton Police and several officers.” (Universal Hub)

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Anyway, that’s all for now.