Middlesex register charged with theft resigns

John R. Buonomo has resigned as the Middlesex County register of probate, a month after State Police surveillance cameras led to his arrest in the theft of thousands of dollars from government copy machines.

The 56-year-old Democrat mailed a one-sentence letter Friday to Governor Deval Patrick, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, and Secretary of State William F. Galvin, announcing that he was resigning immediately. He gave no reason.

His lawyer, Michael F. Natola of Boston, said Buonomo stepped down because he needs to focus on the criminal charges against him and on caring for his two young children. Buonomo recently divorced and shares custody of the children with his former wife, the lawyer said.

Phone messages left at Buonomo's home in Newton were not returned.

Natola said the resignation does not indicate a possible plea deal. A Middlesex County grand jury is investigating the case, he said, and Buonomo is worried about it.

"He is concerned about being charged with what he's charged, and he's concerned with what might come out of the grand jury," Natola said.

Corey Welford, a spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr., called Buonomo's resignation a personal decision that "doesn't impact our investigation into either these alleged thefts or into whether any additional crimes may have been committed."

Buonomo, who oversaw a relatively obscure office that handles records concerning estates, child custody, divorces, and adoptions, pleaded not guilty last month in Cambridge District Court to charges stemming from alleged thefts from copy and cash machines in the Register of Deeds office. That office shares space with the Register of Probate.

Buonomo, who was first elected register in a special election in 2000, was charged Aug. 6 with more than 30 counts of breaking and entering into a depository with intent to commit larceny, theft of public property by a government officer, and larceny under $250. He faces up to 20 years in prison on some of the charges.

The Supreme Judicial Court suspended him without pay two weeks later.

Buonomo, a former county administrator and onetime member of the Somerville School Committee and Somerville Board of Aldermen, robbed copy and cash machines in the Registry of Deeds office at least 18 times since June, Leone alleged last month at a news conference announcing his arrest.

State Police detectives assigned to Leone's office began an investigation in June after the Registry of Deeds noticed monthly shortages in receipts from the copy and change machines.

Detectives set up surveillance cameras and witnessed Buonomo opening the machines repeatedly and pocketing cash, Leone said.

Leone showed video footage of three occasions - July 23, Aug. 1, and Aug. 5 - at the news conference. Each time, Buonomo was seen approaching the machine with caution and looking around before opening it with a key.

Eugene C. Brune, the register of deeds, said yesterday that prosecutors have told him not to discuss the case because it "is nowhere near to being settled."

There are 14 registers of probate in Massachusetts. Buonomo oversaw the busiest registry and was reelected to a six-year term in 2002. He has raised $429,345 in campaign donations since 2003, more than any of his 13 counterparts, according to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. The only other register who comes close is Richard Iannella of Suffolk County. He raised $383,396 during the same time period, according to the campaign financial records.

Although Buonomo has resigned, his name will appear on the ballot in the Democratic primary on Sept. 16, during which he is expected to face several write-in challengers, said Bradley Balzer, deputy director of the campaign and finance office.

If Buonomo wins, he can withdraw, and his name would not appear on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 4, a Galvin spokesman said. Then a caucus of Democratic ward and town committees in Middlesex would pick a replacement for the general election.

Natola said his client would not serve if elected.

Yesterday, in an unrelated development, Iannella confirmed that he wrote Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley in April 2003, days after learning that an internal audit had determined that $12,885 disappeared from cash registers at the Suffolk probate office between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2002.

The theft, which appeared to have been covered up through voided transactions, was first reported yesterday on the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly website.

Conley's office assigned a Boston police detective and a senior prosecutor to investigate the theft, but did not have enough evidence to charge anyone, said Jake Wark, his spokesman.

An audit of the Suffolk probate office released last month by state Auditor Joseph DeNucci criticized the office's financial controls, but Iannella said he has fixed the problem.

Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com.