A Bridgewater Democrat working for a seat on the Governor’s Council, which is tasked with approving judges, served time in federal jail for an oxycodone distribution conspiracy cost handed down over 20 years in the past, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
Sean Michael Murphy, a 48-year-old embellished U.S. Navy veteran who runs a regulation agency, was indicted in June 2001 on possession with an intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone in violation of federal regulation, court docket paperwork present.
He later struck an settlement with prosecutors to plead responsible to a single depend of drug distribution conspiracy, in keeping with court docket information.
He was sentenced to 2 and a half years in jail, 500 hours of drug remedy, and three years of supervised launch, in keeping with court docket information.
Murphy was launched from custody on April 4, 2004 and his sentence was shortened due to his participation in a federal drug rehabilitation program, in keeping with Federal Bureau of Jail information and an account of his previous present in his 2013 Massachusetts Bar utility.
Murphy didn’t reply to a number of messages left over the previous week at a telephone quantity and electronic mail handle listed in his Massachusetts marketing campaign finance information. Telephone calls to numbers discovered on his regulation agency’s web site and a marketing campaign social media web page additionally went unanswered.
A message left with the particular person listed as Murphy’s marketing campaign chair on state marketing campaign finance filings additionally went unanswered.
In a press release to the Herald on Wednesday, Murphy mentioned he regretted “the decisions of my past” and has since turn into a contributing member of society, a father of three, a youth sports activities coach, an lively member of the Veterans of International Wars society, and an legal professional who undertakes “dozens” of professional bono instances annually.
“My story has been a conversation and cautionary tale for my oldest child, who is entering college in the fall. While it is unfortunate that this story has expedited the timeline of a similar conversation with my two young daughters, I can genuinely say my arrest saved my life,” Murphy mentioned within the assertion.
In a letter included in his 2013 Bar utility, Murphy mentioned he labored “diligently to turn my life around” after his launch and is now a “family man.” The applying additionally included a number of optimistic references from professors at his alma mater, Thomas Jefferson Faculty of Regulation.
“My background offers no excuse for my past transgressions. I come from a very good family and had a happy childhood,” he wrote within the letter.
Murphy, who additionally abruptly resigned in 2020 from his position as interim metropolis solicitor in Brockton, is one among 4 Democrats working to fill the Governor’s Council seat Robert Jubinville vacated when former Gov. Charlie Baker nominated him to function clerk-magistrate of the Framingham District Court docket.
The crowded Democratic area additionally contains David Reservitz, Tamisha Civil, Muriel Kramer, and Hunter Cohen. Francis Crimmins Jr., a retired choose, is working on the Republican aspect after most not too long ago serving as the pinnacle of the state’s Poll Regulation Fee.
The Herald confirmed Murphy’s responsible plea and jail sentence via publicly out there court docket paperwork, federal jail information, and his Bar utility, by which he specified by element the occasions that led as much as his felony conviction and different prison proceedings he was concerned in.
A plea settlement with federal prosecutors in Boston signed by Murphy on Feb. 4, 2002 exhibits he admitted to a single depend of drug distribution conspiracy. Attorneys mentioned Murphy promptly accepted “personal responsibility for the offense(s) of conviction in the case,” a transfer that led them to ask a choose for decrease penalties.
In his Bar utility, Murphy mentioned he was contacted by an individual he already knew named Robert Connell and was “asked to distribute oxycodone.”
On the time, Connell had already been arrested by and was cooperating with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Company, in keeping with the outline of the occasions in Murphy’s Bar utility.
Connell known as Murphy on Could 18, 2001 and Murphy “agreed to deliver money that was owed for drug transactions,” the Bar utility mentioned.
“I went to Connell’s residence and gave him $8,680. I was arrested and prosecuted for my ‘minor role’ in the distribution of 500 oxycodone tablets and 297 vials of ketamine,” Murphy wrote within the Bar utility.
Connell and Murphy had been indicted alongside three different people who had been accused of taking part in an oxycodone distribution ring that had ties in each Florida and Massachusetts and concerned hundreds of oxycodone tablets, in keeping with federal court docket information from each states.
Within the letter to the Massachusetts Bar, Murphy mentioned after serving 4 years within the Navy from 1995 to 1999, he “still was not mature enough to handle adult life without supervision.” He mentioned he shaped a drug behavior, engaged in heavy consuming, and partied, in keeping with the letter.
“With no job and a growing drug habit, I began supplementing my income with drug dealing. My life was spinning out of control and I was more irresponsible than ever,” he wrote within the letter. “Finally, I was rescued in 2001 when I was arrested on drug conspiracy charges.”
Whereas on launch as his federal case performed out in court docket, Murphy “violated his conditions of release by committing a crime, namely assault and battery, disorderly conduct and affray,” an officer with U.S. Pretrial Providers wrote in a Nov. 20, 2001 letter to a federal Justice of the Peace choose.
He was arrested on Nov. 11, 2001 round 2:10 a.m. by Boston police “after they witnessed him chase after and assault another individual,” the letter mentioned, a replica of which is obtainable in Murphy’s federal court docket information.
“Mr. Murphy was released on a $100 bond and has a (Dec.) 6, 2001 court date at Brighton District Court,” the memo mentioned. “I note that Mr. Murphy was arrested on (Oct.) 30, 2001 by the Braintree Police Department for operating a motor vehicle after suspension.”
In his letter, Murphy mentioned a curfew initially imposed as a part of his situations of launch had been lifted and he was out with co-workers at a bar in Brighton.
“I drank until I blacked out and, during that blackout, I apparently got into a fight,” he wrote. “I woke up in a Boston police station jail cell. I was under federal indictment, and I still was getting into trouble.”
Murphy mentioned the assault prices had been later dismissed “due to the mercy of the court” and an interplay with Boston police led to the “first time I admitted to myself that I was on the wrong path.”
In his assertion to the Herald, Murphy mentioned the federal choose “did not issue the harshest punishment” out there on the time of his sentencing and afforded him a possibility for remedy.
“My story is a real-life testament to the impact good, reasonable judges can have on the lives of those who come before the court,” he mentioned.
