Special Agent In Charge Of Boston FBI To Retire
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Special Agent in Charge of the FBI office in Boston, Rick DesLauriers, will be retiring on July 13th.
He tells WBZ-TV's Karen Anderson, he will be taking a position in the private sector as Vice President of Corporate Security of Penske Corporation in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Penske is a diversified transportation services company, owned by auto racing legend Roger Penske.
DesLauriers says it was an excellent private sector opportunity that presented itself well before the Boston Marathon Bombings.
DesLauriers says he put the process with Penske on hold and deferred acting on this until now to ensure an orderly transition with the bombing investigation.
DesLauriers says this move has been well-coordinated with FBI headquarters.
"There will be a seamless transition and there is a great team in place," he tells WBZ-TV's Karen Anderson.
DesLauriers says he wants to make any questions about the timing of his move clear: "This is not something I obtained about any publicity from the bombings. This opportunity came up a month before the Boston Marathon bombings."
DesLauriers is 53 and a half years old. Mandatory retirement is 57 in the FBI, and he was eligible to retire at 50.
DesLauriers says he had considered retiring in 2010, but then got the opportunity in July of 2010 to lead his own FBI field division here in Boston.
"It has been an absolutely honor and privilege to lead the Boston FBI Field Division in the last three years," he said.
DesLauriers, a native of Longmeadow, entered on duty with the FBI in January of 1987.
He has served in the Birmingham, New York, and Boston offices, along with several different assignments at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., including Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters, where he was responsible for nationwide counterintelligence operations and espionage investigations.
He is proud of several accomplishments while leading the Boston office, including the arrests of Russian spies in 2010, which he started working on while at FBI headquarters, the arrest of Whitney Bulger, the terrorism convictions of Rezwan Ferdaus and Tarek Mehanna, the public corruption conviction of former Speaker Sal DiMasi, the arrests and convictions of members of the New England LCN Anthony Denunzio and Luigi Monagio, and progress in the Gardner Museum Heist investigation.
His last day will be Friday July 12th and he will start in late July at Penske.
A new SAC is expected to be named over the summer.
