Finneran lieutenant is arrested
State Representative Paul L. Kujawski of Webster, a member of the leadership team of House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, was arrested late Thursday and charged with drunken driving, "open and gross lewdness," and disorderly conduct, after several motorists phoned police and reported that his car was being driven erratically, State Police said yesterday.
Kujawski, a 50-year-old Webster Democrat who chairs the House Steering Committee, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Dudley District Court and was released on $40 bail pending a trial later this year. Kujawski could not be reached for comment. His aides declined to be interviewed, and his lawyer, bar advocate John Bowes, declined to comment.
According to the State Police, Kujawski was arrested around 11 p.m., after the State Police received several cellphone calls from motorists reporting that a 1993 Ford Escort was traveling erratically on Route 20 in Sturbridge.
The police declined to comment on what transpired after Kujawski's car was pulled over.
"To maintain the integrity of the investigation, there are certain aspects I cannot discuss, and that's all cases," said State Police Sergeant Scott Range. "I can't elaborate."
Kujawski was booked at the State Police barracks in Sturbridge and released on bail shortly afterward.
In 2001, he was fined $10,000 by the state Office for Campaign and Political Finance for spending $20,000 from his political account on items that were not campaign-related, including Red Sox tickets, business suits, furniture, and personal credit card bills. At the time, Kujawksi said he was guilty only of poor record-keeping, not intentionally subverting campaign finance laws.
Kujawski, who was first elected in 1994, was reelected in 2002. The legislator is unopposed in November's election.
The arrest of Kujawski is only the latest scrape with the law for House Democrats, who are facing the stiffest challenge in years from a large slate of Republican candidates recruited by Governor Mitt Romney.
On July 12 , Representative Christopher P. Asselin of Springfield was indicted on federal racketeering charges of allegedly using federal money from the Springfield Housing Authority to remodel his home. Asselin insists that he is innocent and is running for reelection, a fight that includes a primary.
Finneran is under investigation by federal authorities, who are probing allegations he lied under oath during a recent trial involving the House's 2001 redistricting plan.
