Trial Is On For Sal DiMasi
BOSTON (AP) - The federal corruption case against former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and three associates will go forward after a federal judge refused to dismiss any of the charges.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf issued the ruling on Friday, rejecting defense motions that the 2009 indictments failed to meet legal standards.
DiMasi and the three co-defendants are charged with scheming to rig two lucrative state contracts for a software firm in exchange for payments.
Defense attorneys were buoyed last June by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the scope of a federal fraud law known as "theft of public services."
DiMasi's lawyer, Thomas Kiley, told The Boston Globe that he disagreed with Wolf's ruling, but still expected to win acquittal of the former speaker at trial.
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