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You have to wonder if there's a Boston developer who might have a bit of trouble getting to sleep tonight

The US Attorney's office in Boston reports a BPDA official agreed to plead guilty today to charges that he took $50,000 in bribes and payments from a Boston developer in 2017 to convince a member of the Zoning Board of Appeal to vote in favor of a permit extension the developer wanted.

The US Attorney's office named neither developer nor zoning-board member in a statement on its plea deal with John Lynch, 66, assistant director of real estate at the BPDA's Economic Development Industrial Corporation:

In 2017, the Boston real estate developer sought to sell a parcel of residential real estate in Boston, but needed ZBA approval to extend a permit that would have allowed the property to be sold as a multi-unit development. To get the permit extension, the developer agreed to pay $50,000 in cash bribes and a check to Lynch, in return for Lynch using his influence at the BPDA to secure a vote from a ZBA member. The permit extension helped the real estate developer realize an additional half million dollars in profits that the developer otherwise would not have received absent the permit. After getting the permit extension, Lynch accepted $25,000 in cash payments and another $25,000 check, which Lynch used to pay a personal bill. Lynch then failed to report those and another $10,000 payment he had received from the real estate developer.

The zoning board routinely extends approvals for projects, although developers have to seek permission and give an explanation why they need more time to take advantage of a positive board vote.

In exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors will urge a judge to sentence Lynch, 66, to 46 to 57 months in federal prison on one count of bribery involving an organization receiving federal funds, and one count of filing a false federal tax return that failed to report his receipt of the bribe payments. Lynch was looking at up to 10 years in prison if he went to trial and were found guilty, the US Attorney's office says.

Lynch agreed to plead guilty after the US Attorney's office had issued an "information" charging him today, which means a grand jury has yet to begin looking into the case.

In his role with the EDIC, Lynch would normally have little to do with the zoning board, because its main duties involve overseeing and leasing commercial space at the BPDA's Raymond Flynn Marine Industrial Park in South Boston and the Charlestown Navy Yard.

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Comments

Bet this is the first time THIS ever happened!

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The City Councillors should retract their recent statement....sounds like more of this is on its way....

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The City Councillors were decrying the attack on the ability of politicians to advocate for items that would not result in financial gain for themselves. This is straight out bribery.

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you mean getting caught and actually going down for it...you’re probably right?

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Might be the first time a bribe was tendered in the form of a check.

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Does unnamed indicate cooperating? Maybe somebody can shed some light.

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The fact that Lynch agreed to plead guilty before the grand jury started might mean he's going to be a cooperative witness once it does start.

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Who is developer?
Who is ZBA member?
Who is taking bets on names???

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You took a shot at the US Attorney at your press conference and missed. He has responded with a shotgun blast. Now is the time for you to duck and cover.

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So Lynch resigned Aug 16th and those silly Councilors made a statement on Aug 21st supporting corruption for two other of the Mayor’s employees. Mahhty sat on his hands knowing this was coming & decided he doesn’t want to go down alone.

We’ll hear about the Board member and developer, right?

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' assistant director of real estate at the BPDA's Economic Development Industrial Corporation ' ?

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"Lynch, who was paid $134,601 last year, had worked since 2016 for the EDIC, a division of the Boston Planning & Development Agency, which regulates larger scale development. But his job mainly entailed overseeing a maintenance crew at the Raymond L. Flynn Industrial Park. He voluntarily resigned on Aug. 16, city officials said."

Nice work if you can get it because you're some connected guy from Dorchester.

Fitting that this crook worked at a place named after one of our more recent pieces of self-dealing garbage, Ray Flynn. If you've forgotten, Ray's the guy who decided keeping his brother in a cushy gig was more important that maintaining fire engines in a reliable, professional manner. That was of course before he went all in on defending the great pedophile protector, Cardinal Law.

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She's been busy filling politically motivated lawsuits against the federal government while the corruption in her state continues.

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With tumbleweeds blowing through the once packed press office at City Hall and no full-time reporters left to keep local government honest less corrupt, it's nice to see this US Attorney and his Obama appointed predecessor tackling Walsh's culture of corruption.

Walsh shows that he stands with the offenders, keeping his two buffoons on at full pay even after a Grand Jury found probable cause that they illegally shook down Boston Calling. When a second jury found them Guilty, Walsh and his understudies on the Council didn't criticize the newly minted federal felons, they criticized the jury's verdict. Maura Healey's blindness to any Democrat corruption is par for the course. The conduct of Walsh and staff is really shameless. Keep the prosecutions coming, even if the news is released late on Friday of a long summer holiday weekend.

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