Middlesex official accused of stealing funds from machines
WOBURN - John Buonomo, the Middlesex County register of probate, was arrested yesterday after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from government machines in what the local prosecutor called a sad act of public corruption.
The 56-year-old Newton resident, first elected to his post in 2000, was charged with more than 30 counts of breaking and entering into a depository with attempt to commit larceny, theft of public property by a government officer, and larceny under $250. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison on some of the charges. He is expected to be arraigned today in Cambridge District Court.
"This is a brazen violation of public trust," Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone said at a news conference yesterday, where he announced the charges. "I see a public official betraying the public trust, and frankly the two words that come to mind are on the one hand brazen, and on the other hand sad."
Buonomo, a Democrat, was arrested outside the Registry of Probate office in Cambridge. A phone message left at his home was not returned.
Buonomo is accused of robbing copy and cash machines in the Registry of Deeds office at least 18 times since June, Leone said. The Registry of Deeds office is in the same Cambridge Street building as the Registry of Probate office.
Buonomo did not have authorization to access the cash machines in the Registry of Deeds office, but the keys to machines in his office matched keys for the machines at the Registry of Deeds, officials said.
State Police detectives assigned to Leone's office began investigating after the Registry of Deeds noticed monthly shortages in receipts from the copy and change machines. The shortages added up to thousands of dollars over several months, Leone said.
Detectives set up surveillance cameras and witnessed Buonomo allegedly opening the machines repeatedly, Leone said. On eight of those occasions he pulled out cash, put some back, and put the rest in his pocket, Leone said.
Leone showed video footage of three occasions - July 23, Aug. 1, and Aug. 5 - at the news conference. In each, Buonomo can be seen approaching the machine with caution and looking around before opening the machine with a key.
Leone said Buonomo would typically visit the machines at the end of the day and was seen by at least two witnesses.
"It is highly troubling that a public official would engage in the kind of brazen theft of public monies that we allege here," Leone said in a prepared statement. "We believe that Mr. Buonomo violated the public's trust by regularly accessing these cash machines without authority and stealing taxpayer money."
Leone said the investigation is continuing, and that detectives are looking at whether financial irregularities occurred in Buonomo's office. In the two months since the investigation began, Buonomo is accused of taking several thousand dollars. Investigators are also trying to determine how long he had allegedly been taking money.
After his arraignment, Buonomo is expected to be placed on unpaid administrative leave by the Office of the Trial Court.
Leone said that Buonomo has cooperated with detectives and that a clearer explanation of his motives would be revealed at his arraignment.
As Register of Probate, Buonomo oversees the office that administers records in estates, child custody, divorces, and adoptions.
In 2000, Buonomo was elected in a special election to replace Register Robert B. Antonelli, who was removed from the post by the Supreme Judicial Court for abusing his authority. Buonomo was reelected to a six-year term in 2002. He ran the state's One-Stop Career Center from 1995 to 2000.
He was county administrator from 1986 to 1991, and has served at the local level, on the Somerville School Committee, and the Somerville Board of Alderman, according to a biography on his website. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Somerville in 1989 and 1999.
Dorothy Kelly Gay, a former Somerville mayor who ran against Buonomo when he lived there, said she was surprised to learn of the charges last night.
"I never would have expected to see a former colleague in the position he's in . . . and I feel very bad for his family, I really do," said Gay, who once ran for lieutenant governor. "It's a shame it came to that because he's a smart guy and could have done many great things."
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.
