From Mass Live.com Trooper admits to recieving free weapons in gun trade probe

Massachusetts State Police Trooper admits receiving free weapons in gun trade probe

Updated 11:25 AM; Posted 10:03 AM

The Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, where three Armorer's Section troopers were stationed before an investigation was opened into gun transfers. (Massachusetts State Police)

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By Dan Glaun

dglaun@masslive.com

One of three state troopers accused of selling used department guns to a state contractor and receiving free personal weapons in return is cooperating with investigators and has been granted immunity from criminal prosecution.
The Boston Globe reports that Trooper Robert Outwater, who has remained suspended without pay for nearly two years as the Office of Attorney General Maura Healey investigates the allegations of improper weapons sales, signed a cooperation agreement in September.
Sources told the Globe that Outwater admitted to receiving free guns and agreed to pay a $5,000 civil fine for violating state ethics law, but will not face more serious charges.
MassLive first reported last week that a statewide grand jury was investigating the case and considering whether to bring criminal charges.

Grand jury weighing criminal charges in alleged Massachusetts State Police gun trade scheme

MassLive has learned that one of the three troopers, Robert Outwater, remains suspended nearly two years after the investigation was launched.

Outwater was suspended in the fall of 2016. The other two troopers linked to the investigation -- Armorer's Section Commander Lt. Paul Wosny and Armorer Trooper Michael Wilmot -- have retired, state police spokesman David Procopio wrote in an email.
No other troopers have faced disciplinary action in connection with the investigation, Procopio told MassLive.
The Globe first reported details of the investigation in 2016. Almost no public information was released about its progress until last week, when State Police confirmed the existence an active grand jury investigation in a letter arguing that invoices of armory gun sales should remain secret despite a public records request from MassLive.
Wosny's attorney Timothy Burketold the Globe their clients had done nothing wrong. Attorney Leonard Kesten, who represented Outwater in 2016, has not returned multiple requests for comment.
Wilmot's attorney, Daniel J. Moynihan, told MassLive that his client was being scapegoated for the failures of his commanding officers.
"The armorer's division was completely mismanaged by the command staff," Moynihan said. "In typical fashion the state police allowed the major and the captain to move on with their lives and with their pension, and my client now is being investigated."
Wosny, Outwater and Wilmot were suspended in September of 2016 amid an inquiry into the transfer of hundreds of surplus police weapons to a gun and police equipment dealer in Western Massachusetts, WCVB reported at the time.
Sources familiar with the investigation told the Globe in 2016 that the probe centered on transactions between the state police armory and Jurek Brothers, a Greenfield-based vendor with a contract to sell firearms, weapons and other supplies to state police.
Jurek Brothers and its attorney Thomas Merrigan did not respond to requests for comment.
The Attorney General's Office was focused on allegations that troopers staffing the armory marked weapons as surplus and traded them to Jurek Brothers, who then gave over a dozen of those weapons back to the troopers for personal use, the Globe reported.
Jurek Brothers did not pay Massachusetts State Police for the weapons but gave the agency credit toward future purchases, sources told the Globe.
Moynihan told MassLive that Wilmot and the other armory troopers were following established procedures when they exchanged used weapons to Jurek Brothers' in exchange for credit.
"They were ordered to do that by the command staff," Moynihan said.
Moynihan said he could not comment on the allegations that troopers received free personal weapons in the deal.
There are currently multiple ongoing investigations into allegations of criminal behavior by members of the state police. Both Healey's office and federal investigators are probing alleged overtime abuse by troopers who patrolled the Massachusetts Turnpike. The federal investigation into the abuse has so far led to four indictments; no state-level charges have yet been brought.