OPERATOR OF STRIP CLUB CONVICTED ON DRUG CHARGES IN POLICE CORRUPTION CASE

Boston, MA... A federal jury convicted the operator of an unlicensed strip club late yesterday afternoon on cocaine distribution charges.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England; and Edward Davis, Commissioner of the Boston Police Department, announced that MATTHEW WEST, 37, of 145 Winter Street, Saugus, Massachusetts, was convicted by a jury sitting before U.S. District Judge William G. Young on two counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

"The guilty verdict in this case is a testament to the hard work of the FBI and the Boston Police Department's Anti-Corruption Unit," said Sullivan. "The three year effort to uncover the corrupt activities of law enforcement officers reveals our collective commitment to vigorously prosecute public corruption - and all those who benefit from it."

According to evidence presented during the four-day trial, on November 25 and December 17 of 2005, WEST distributed cocaine to an FBI cooperating witness. At the time, WEST was operating an unlicensed strip club at 24 Factory Street in Boston in connection with a Boston Police officer. The first illegal drug transaction occurred in the parking lot outside 24 Factory Street; the second occurred in the stairwell of 24 Factory Street after WEST had been warned that there was a police car present in the location. Trial testimony revealed that WEST had been operating unlicensed parties at the Factory Street location in connection with a police officer for at least a year before the cocaine transactions, and that known drug dealers attended the parties. According to an Information filed by the government, WEST himself has been convicted twice previously for cocaine distribution in Massachusetts and Virginia. Trial testimony also revealed that police officers from several area Police Departments attended the illegal parties, and that at least on one occasion, officers were in attendance in uniform with their cruisers parked outside.

The trial testimony also revealed that FBI agents approached WEST in August 2006, after three Boston Police officers were arrested earlier in July in connection with an FBI undercover sting operation, and sought WEST's cooperation. WEST refused to identify his source of the cocaine. WEST is presently in custody awaiting sentencing. Judge Young scheduled sentencing for June 25, 2007. Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, WEST - who because of his previous two convictions for cocaine distribution - faces between 21 and 27 years in prison as a career offender. He also faces a minimum term of 6 years of supervised release, and up to a $2 million fine.

The case was investigated by Special Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Detectives in the Boston Police Department's Anti-Corruption Unit. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. McNeil in Sullivan's Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.