Bonilla acquitted in car swap corruption case

Sept. 30--SALEM, Mass. -- A jury Tuesday acquitted Melix Bonilla, Lawrence's former deputy police chief, of extortion and fraud charges associated with the swap of a dozen city-owned cars in 2010.

Bonilla, campaign manager for ex-Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua, was found not guilty of extortion, fraud and violation of the state's procurement law after an Essex County jury deliberated his case for a little over six hours Monday and Tuesday.

As the not guilty verdicts were read aloud, Bonilla broke into tears and bowed his head in the Salem Superior courtroom where he had been on trial for three days. His friend, Euclides Polanco, a man he described as his "adoptive father," sobbed loudly in the courtroom as Bonilla was cleared.

"I'm happy," said an exuberant Bonilla as he left the courthouse a free man.

Bonilla was cleared of any wrongdoing in the swap of 12 vehicles seized in police investigations for four Chevrolet Impalas with Bernardo Pena, the owner of Santo Domingo Motors in Lawrence. Pena is a friend and political supporter of Lantigua.

When he was indicted on Sept. 11, 2012, Bonilla initially faced a charge of conspiring with Lantigua to violate procurement law in the car swap. But shortly before jurors got the case on Monday afternoon, Judge Timothy Feeley withdrew the conspiracy charge saying prosecutors presented insufficient evidence to support it.

Another charge, larceny of property valued over $250, was also dropped before jurors got the case.

Bonilla had faced up to 15 years in state prison if convicted of extortion, the most serious charge remaining.

In his closing argument Monday, Alex Cain, Bonilla's defense attorney, said the case represented the "ugly side" of Lawrence Police Department politics but that prosecutors had not proven criminal intent. And he asked why no one in the police department "shut down" the car swap deal when they learned of it.

Following the verdict, Cain and Bonilla met briefly in a small conference room just outside the courtroom. Afterwards, Cain said Bonilla was "thrilled with the verdict."

He noted, in the past two years, Bonilla "never wavered once. He never backed down from his assertion that he was innocent."

"We are thrilled the jury was able to see the truth of the case. He is looking forward to putting the matter behind him and spending quality time with his family," Cain said.

He added that Bonilla holds no "ill will" towards Essex County prosecutors, saying they treated his client as a gentleman throughout the case, which spanned just over two years.

Cain said he was "unsure" when Bonilla would return to work at the police department. He said Bonilla is waiting to hear from Acting Police Chief James Fitzpatrick.In January 2014, as he awaited trial, Bonilla was demoted to the rank of sergeant and suspended without pay when new Mayor Daniel Rivera took office. Lantigua had promoted Bonilla to deputy police chief in 2010, just four days after he became the city's mayor. After Bonilla was indicted and while Lantigua was still in office, Bonilla continued receiving his $138,000 annual salary although he was on administrative leave from the police department.

Bonilla's promotion from sergeant to deputy chief came with a roughly $45,000 pay increase.

Jury selection in Bonilla's trial started last Tuesday, Sept. 23, and the trial opened the following day.

Pena, testifying as the prosecution's first witness, said he made a $29,445 profit in the swap deal.

Other prosecution witnesses included retired Lawrence Police Chief John Romero, Lawrence Police Capt. Roy Vasque, Detective Horace Privitera and Walter Callahan, a procurement employee for the city of Lawrence.

But the prosecution's key witness was considered to be Jay Jackson, the fired civilian facilities director at the police department and former unpaid, volunteer auxiliary police chief.

Jackson testified that he was demeaned, degraded and forced into working with Bonilla on the car swap deal. He had a heart attack four years ago and Jackson said he feared being fired from his job and losing his health insurance.

On Monday, after the prosecution rested, Bonilla took the stand as the defense's only witness.

Bonilla testified that he had spoken with numerous times with Romero and Vasque about the details of the car swap. He denied ever threatening Jackson, saying he considered him a friend. The two ate lunch together "every single day," he said.

Vasque was called as a rebuttal witness, saying he had one conversation with Bonilla about his swap plans. Vasque said he was told to provide keys and paperwork on the seized cars to Jackson, which he did. Vasque testified he had no other involvement in the car swap.

Bonilla's testimony also contradicted Romero. Romero, on the second day of trial, testified Bonilla told him about the car swap plan and he told him to explore the idea and get back to him.

Romero said he later learned the car swap was a done deal and alerted the FBI, which was already investigating allegations of corruption involving Lantigua and members of his administration.

Earlier this year, a member of Lantigua's administration was convicted of bribery and other crimes committed while he was Lantigua's chief of staff. Leonard Degnan was found guilty of pressuring a city trash vendor to donate a garbage truck to the Dominican Republic, Lantigua's native country.

Degnan was sentenced to 18 months in jail, fined $10,000 and barred from running for public office in the future.

His attorney, Ted Cranney, filed an appeal in Degnan's case.

Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.

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