April 30--The brother of slain Woburn cop Jack Maguire told the Herald yesterday he's worried that Beacon Hill lawmakers are watering down a parole reform bill designed to keep career criminals off the streets and behind bars.
"I am now more frustrated than I have been," Chuck Maguire said after a ceremony dedicating the Woburn Post Office to his hero brother. "The momentum was there, and now the momentum's dying."
After initially passing the House and Senate, the bill is now in a conference committee, and Maguire blamed House Judiciary Chairman Eugene O'Flaherty for slowing its progress.
"He's nitpicking," said Maguire. "They're going to do something, but they're going to nitpick and destroy the bill as it stands and water it down."
O'Flaherty did not return a call seeking comment.
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who attended yesterday's dedication, called on state officials to take action to prevent another career criminal from taking down a Bay State police officer.
"If there's a problem with parole and the way things are handled, it should be fixed, and I would encourage them to do it so something like this doesn't happen again," Brown told the Herald. "As you know, things kind of get stuck up on Capitol Hill and Beacon Hill, and I'd encourage people to work together and solve the problem and close any loopholes that are there."
The bill would crack down on repeat offenders, banning the possibility of parole and imposing maximum sentences for criminals committing their third serious felony. "There's a lot of frustration here in the city of Woburn to have some kind of resolution to this that everyone will be happy with," said state Rep. Jim Dwyer (D-Woburn). "It has to be done and it has to be sentencing reform."
Maguire, a married father who was slated to retire, was shot to death Dec. 26, 2010, by Dominic Cinelli during a jewelry heist in the middle of a snowstorm. Cinelli, a repeat violent criminal, had been released by the state's Parole Board.
Hundreds turned out yesterday to rename the post office in honor of Maguire in a ceremony attended by Brown, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey and Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone.
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