State trooper is suspended and attorneys warn her convictions could be quashed after it's revealed she admitted taking part in a large-scale marijuana business while testifying against her boyfriend in 2007
- Trooper Leigha A. Genduso, 36, was suspended from her $151,000 job last week
- An internal affairs investigation was opened in part to investigate how she was hired despite her own testimony in a federal 2007 case
- She testified against her boyfriend, and admitted to being involved in a large scale marijuana business in the early 2000s
- Genduso admitted to smoking marijuana every day during her testimony
- She also admitted to delivering drugs herself and money laundering
Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigha A. Genduso has been suspended from her $151,000 job, without pay, after an internal affairs investigation into her hiring was opened.
Trooper Genduso, 36, was hired despite admitting to criminal activities in the past. It involved a 2007 federal case in which she testified against her then-boyfriend, Sean P. Bucci.
Genduso participated in a large-scale marijuana business in the early 2000s run by Bucci. Now, not only has her past come into question, her cases could also be reviewed.
In the 2007 case, she testified against Bucci in exchange for avoiding prosecution for her own participation in the marijuana enterprise.
She admitted to helping to package, transport and sell marijuana, and, launder some of the proceeds, according to The Telegram.
Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigha A. Genduso was suspended last week without pay after an internal affairs investigation was opened into how she was hired
Genduso was hired despite sworn testimony against her boyfriend, in which she admitted her involvement in a marijuana enterprise in exchange for avoiding prosecution
State police spokesman David Procopio said: 'A multifaceted background check was done on Trooper Genduso as on all other recruits.'
She and Bucci's marijuana business was extensive.
She admitted to being present for marijuana deliveries that were typically around 200 pounds.
'A lot of times I helped him break up the bales to be able to put them into pounds,' she testified.
Genduso also delivered the pot as well. 'I would put it in boxes and then wrap them up as presents,' Ms. Genduso said, 'because of the smell, and because it's miles to drive with that in my car.'
She also admitted to smoking pot almost everyday during her relationship with Bucci.
Now defense attorneys say the scandal could lead to convictions being tossed, and new trials ordered, according to the Boston Herald.
'If she made observations that are important to the case then I would think that those convictions, those adverse dispositions, could be in jeopardy,' said Randy Gioia, deputy chief counsel of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the state's public defender agency.
He said that district attorneys now have an obligation to make any new information available.
Now, some of the cases Genduso was involved in could be tossed out or re-tried
'The prosecution should notify any defendant in a case in which trooper Genduso participated,' said Gioia. 'The prosecution has an obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence that could be helpful to a defendant — that's their constitutional obligation to disclose that... It should be up to the defendant and the defendant's lawyer to decide if there are grounds for a new trial.'
Genduso is also linked to a website aimed to expose 'rats' and agents who help arrest criminals.
She was first hired as a dispatcher, then as a trooper.
David Traub, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, who is also the head of the Massachusetts District Attorney Association, said the DAs are aware of the concerns over cases Genduso was involved in.
'We're very mindful of the fair-trial concerns and constitutional concerns that those allegations raise,' said Traub. 'Consistent with what we've done in the past, we're going to be diligent.'
Traub added: 'If defense counsel have motions or evidence they want to submit to cases, the DAs are interested in and encouraging them to bring information forward.'
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