Former head of State Police union gets 2 1/2 years in federal prison for racketeering, embezzling union funds

A federal judge today sentenced Dana Pullman, former president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, to 30 months in prison following his conviction for embezzling union funds - in part to pay for trips and meals with his girlfriend - and getting kickbacks from a lobbyist to whom he directed business.

US District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock also sentenced that lobbyist, Anne Lynch, to two years in prison for her involvement in Pullman's schemes. A federal jury convicted the two of racketeering, two types of wire fraud, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to defraud the IRS in November. Pullman was also convicted of additional wire fraud and two counts of filing a false tax, while Lynch was convicted of obstruction of justice and four counts of filing false tax returns.

The US Attorney's office in Boston described their crimes:

From at least 2012 until Pullman resigned as the President in September 2018, Pullman and Lynch turned SPAM into a racketeering enterprise, using Pullman’s position and power to defraud SPAM members, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and vendors looking to do business with the MSP. Among other things, Pullman and Lynch defrauded SPAM members and the Commonwealth of their right to honest services from Pullman when Lynch paid Pullman a $20,000 kickback in connection with a settlement agreement between SPAM and the Commonwealth. Pullman and Lynch defrauded two different companies that sought to do business with the MSP by hiding from the vendors the fact that Lynch was paying Pullman to direct vendors to use Lynch’s services. The defendants hid the payments from Lynch and her lobbying firm to Pullman in a manner designed to avoid reporting and paying taxes on that income to the IRS. Pullman and Lynch also attempted to obstruct the grand jury’s investigation of this matter by manipulating subpoenaed records, and Lynch attempted to obstruct the grand jury’s investigation by lying to investigators.

Additionally, Pullman embezzled and misused SPAM funds for personal use by using a debit card tied to a SPAM bank account to pay for thousands of dollars of meals and travel for an individual with whom Pullman was having a romantic relationship.