Brian Walshe's house arrest bracelet not equipped with GPS tracking
BOSTON - Leading up to his wife's mysterious disappearance, Brian Walshe was supposed to be confined to their Cohasset home. He is among approximately 6,000 people currently wearing location monitoring bracelets in the federal system, after he pleaded guilty to charges of selling fake art.
"You can be on a bracelet and go to church, go to your doctor, you can go to the grocery store those are all exemptions and sometimes you have to call in ahead of time," explained Boston Attorney Phil Tracey, who's familiar with home confinement.
In some cases, Tracey said home confinement truly means the person can't ever leave home, but in many cases, they're given special permission to leave on a limited basis.
Prosecutors say Walshe lied about going to Home Depot where he allegedly spent $450 on cleaning supplies.
"I don't think they had a fear that he was up to nefarious activity," said Tracey. "It wouldn't raise that much of a red flag."
Court papers outlining the conditions of Walshe's release say, "you are restricted to residence at all times except for activities preapproved by the probation office."
Sources told WBZ-TV Walshe's bracelet did not use the GPS monitoring that some inmates have. Instead, his used radio frequency that can alert authorities when he left home, without specifying where he went.
"Let's say it's a release for an hour and a half. As long as he's back at the end of the hour and a half they generally let it slip by," said defense attorney J.W. Carney, who has had many clients under home confinement.
"Let's say for example a person passes a hardware store on the way back from dropping the kids off at school and he goes in and buys a couple of things. Generally, that won't be something that will get the probation officer's attention," Carney said.
Brian Walshe is currently being held on $500,000 bond on a charge of misleading investigators in the case of his wife Ana Walshe's disappearance. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday in Quincy District Court.
