Posted on 11/30/2010 9:31:21 AM PST by raccoonradio
HAVERHILL — The former head of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority admitted Tuesday that he was driving drunk when he crashed his SUV into two parked cars in August.
Matthew Amorello was ordered to give up his driver's license for 45 days and to pay more than $500 in fines.
Under his admission to "sufficient facts" to charges of operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident, Amorello did not plead guilty, but acknowledged that if the case went to trial, there would be sufficient evidence for a jury to convict.
Judge Stephen Abany continued his case without a finding for one year. If Amorello stays out of trouble during that time, the charges will be dismissed.
Amorello was arrested in August after his Ford Explorer struck two parked cars on a street in Haverhill. Police said he continued to drive it even though a wheel had fallen off. The vehicle was later found at a car dealership with a wheel missing and Amorello alone inside.
After his appearance in Haverhill District Court Tuesday, Amorello said he regretted his actions.
"I made a terrible mistake, and I'll pay the consequences for that mistake," he told reporters.
Amorello, a former state senator, was appointed in 2002 to lead the Turnpike Authority, which oversaw the $15 billion Big Dig highway project. He resigned under pressure from then-Gov. Mitt Romney in 2006 after a portion of a tunnel ceiling fell on a car, killing a Boston woman.
>>45 days and to pay more than $500 in fines.
That’s ALL?
>>Under his admission to “sufficient facts” to charges of operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident, Amorello did not plead guilty, but acknowledged that if the case went to trial, there would be sufficient evidence for a jury to convict.
Guess so.
>>Judge Stephen Abany continued his case without a finding for one year. If Amorello stays out of trouble during that time, the charges will be dismissed.
Any bets...?
Police said he continued to drive it even though a wheel had fallen off.
http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2010/08/mugshot-of-day.html
(August 2010)
>>Nice to see heavy drinking hasn’t ceased in Massachusetts since the passing of Ted Kennedy.
-—Former Massachusetts Turnpike chairman Matthew Amorello failed to appear in court today to face drunken driving charges, leading a Haverhill District Court judge to issue a default warrant for the man who once oversaw one of the largest public works projects in the state’s history.
A court official told Haverhill District Court Judge Stephen Abany this morning that Amorello is currently hospitalized at the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. The reason for his hospitalization was not specified in court.
(snip)
-—According to a Haverhill police report filed in court, Amorello was so drunk he slept on the floor of the police station while he was being booked early Saturday morning. Police also said they had to hold up Amorello’s head so a booking photograph could be taken, the report said.
Police also said that after Amorello allegedly smashed into two parked cars, he tried to drive away – even though the front left wheel had fallen off his vehicle. A witness told police he “observed flames shooting from the suspect’s motor vehicle as he was driving without a front left wheel.’’
The first officer on the scene found Amorello sitting behind the wheel of his damaged car in a parking lot on River Street. The officer tried to talk with him, but was unable to do so, the report said.
“He seemed to be out of it,’’ police wrote. When the officer asked Amorello for his license and registration, “all he could say was, ‘come on,’ ‘’ police said in the report. Officers told Amorello that they wanted him to step out of the vehicle, an order he refused to comply with. Instead, Amorello grabbed hold of the steering wheel, and despite twice being hit with pepper spray in the face, he refused to let go.
-—Officers dragged him out of his vehicle and then had to drag him across the parking lot to a waiting police cruiser.
“Once he was at the cruiser it took all three of us to get him inside,’’ police said in the report. Amorello is 6 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds, according to the report. “And all we could do was lay him in the rear seat.’’
Amorello was then taken to the station where he slept through the booking process and had to be dragged to a holding cell, police said. Police said in the report he was charged with drunken driving because he smelled of alcohol, had glassy eyes, and could not speak. He was too drunk to be given a chemical breath test, police said.
LOL, so how corrupt is this judge, Abany?
Who else besides a cop or a politician could get a DUI and a Leaving the Scene dismissed with a small fine?
And it’s in Massachusetts of course...not sure if that would happen elsewhere. And he loses lic. for 45 days—watch out for him when he gets behind the wheel again! He _was_ living in Boxford but I think got thrown out by wife or lost house (lost a bunch of money, maybe staying with his brother?). The accident was up in Haverhill, no word which watering hole he had visited.
>>He lost his house in Wenham to foreclosure and was unable to find work, the Globe reported
Heading into Haverhill court
That's impressive, considering he's not even a Kennedy. But I do believe he's currently eligible for two pensions from the state, so that's close enough.
I would imagine that when he finally woke up the next morning, in a jail cell... that he likely had no memory at all of what happened the night before. That’s just got to suck.
“Continuance without a finding” is a frequent tactic used by judges if they’re dealing with someone who used to have some juice(not the kind you drink)or still has the old juice-aroni.
It happens all over the Commnwealth, usually at the district court level.
I believed she was actually living in Frahmingham (and on her way into Logan to visit family in Ecuador) at the time. Her family in Ecuador hit the Tort Law Lottery Megabucks Jackpot, nonetheless. Sue everyone and settle for millions! Free Money!
Police said he continued to drive it even though a wheel had fallen off.
Just like our Government
Are you forgetting Amorello was considered a rising GOP star in the ‘90s and was a candidate for Congress ?
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