Former State Police union president, lobbyist indicted on federal charges

Former head of the State Police Association of Massachusetts Dana Pullman left the Moakley Federal Courthouse last month.JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF/File

The embattled former president of the Massachusetts State Police union was indicted Thursday on a host of federal charges — including racketeering and conspiracy — that could land him in federal prison for decades.

Dana A. Pullman, the once powerful head of the State Police Association of Massachusetts from 2012 until September 2018, was arrested last month and accused of taking kickbacks from the union’s former lobbyist and using union money for personal expenses including meals, travel, flowers, and gifts for a girlfriend.

The lobbyist, Anne M. Lynch, was also arrested, accused of paying Pullman, 57, of Worcester, thousands of dollars in kickbacks for steering business to her firm.

A federal grand jury Thursday broadened the charges, adding new tax fraud counts and a third alleged kickback scheme. Lynch, 68, of Hull, allegedly paid two checks totalling $11,250 to Pullman’s wife, allegedly for his help connecting a State Police Association of Massachusetts lawyer with Lynch. The lawyer, who is not named in the indictment, was seeking a marijuana dispensary license.

“As a law enforcement officer and the president of SPAM, Pullman owed a . . . duty of honest services to SPAM, the membership, and the Commonwealth to perform his job and official duties free from fraud, deceit, and self-enrichment and to refrain from accepting, or agreeing to accept bribes and kickbacks,” the indictment said.

Pullman and Lynch were also charged with attempting to obstruct the grand jury’s investigation into the matter by manipulating subpoenaed records. Lynch also allegedly lied to investigators, according to federal authorities.

They also face numerous other counts, including charges of racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, fraud, and fraud conspiracy. Each of those charges provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, according to federal authorities.

Pullman’s lawyer, Martin G. Weinberg, said Pullman “categorically denies today’s charges. In short, there were no bribes, no kickbacks, no embezzlement of union funds, and certainly no racketeering. He welcomes his opportunity to demonstrate his innocence in a future trial.”

A message left with Lynch’s attorney was not immediately returned Thursday evening. Last month, a lawyer representing Lynch said “she intends to vigorously fight the allegations against her.”

SPAM, Pullman’s former union, said in a Thursday statement, “If this new indictment’s allegations are proven true, it means the dues of our hardworking members were used for personal, selfish and inappropriate purposes for at least the past five years.”

A State Police spokesman said the alleged conduct “represents serious offenses and violates the ideals of the Massachusetts State Police.”

The agency has cooperated with the federal probe and will continue to do so, the spokesman said.

It is alleged that, in a kickback scheme, Pullman knowingly and fraudulently concealed a $20,000 bribe and kickback after his union had secured a multimillion dollar settlement with the state over compensation for State Police employees who had worked scheduled days off. Pullman and Lynch helped negotiate the settlement, and after it was reached Lynch allegedly wrote a $20,000 check to Pullman’s spouse.

Lynch’s lobbying firm — Lynch Associates Inc. — ultimately recorded that payment as a “consulting fee” even though “neither Pullman nor his spouse ever did any consulting work for the firm,” according to the indictment. Pullman omitted the payment as income on his 2014 joint personal tax return, according to prosecutors.

Lynch Associates Inc. has said that Anne Lynch is no longer affiliated with the company, and has had no ownership interest in the firm since 2016, although she did perform consulting services for “a limited number of clients until 2018.”

It is alleged that in another scheme, the lobbying firm cut Pullman a $5,000 check for directing a company to the firm. The company had marketed smart weapons to State Police, and Pullman pressured a company employee to hire Lynch and her lobbying firm, federal authorities said. Lynch’s company also cut Pullman a $5,000 check in exchange for him directing a company that was marketing software programs and records management systems to the lobbying firm, prosecutors said.

In 2016, two payments topping $11,000 were made to Pullman or his spouse in connection with Pullman’s involvement in facilitating a business relationship between Lynch’s lobbying firm and an attorney who was trying to obtain a marijuana dispensary license with the state, according to investigators. The attorney in question was on retainer for the State Police union, the indictment said.

Since Pullman’s resignation in September 2018, the union has been in turmoil. The new president, Mark Lynch, is facing a recall vote next week after more than 500 union members signed a petition accusing Lynch of not keeping the membership informed or advocating on behalf of the 1,900 members.

The union has already spent more than $900,000 on legal fees for union members who have been questioned by federal authorities in connection with this case.

The corruption charges are the latest scandal involving the troubled State Police, which has been rocked by accusations that dozens of troopers collected pay for hours they never worked.

The scandals have implicated 46 troopers; eight have pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges and two others face charges.