Toll collectors arraigned on skimming charges

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Ten toll collectors appeared in court today in suits and business clothes to face charges that they skimmed $7,500 in quarters and dollars from their Massachusetts Turnpike Authority booths.

Nine of the 10 toll-takers were released without bail by Boston Municipal Court Judge Thomas Horgan after being arraigned on charges of larceny and fraudulent record keeping. Two of the accused toll-takers were still waiting to appear before the judge.

A lawyer for one of the accused men blasted prosecutors after they misspelled the names of three of the defendants. Attorney Stephen D'Angelo objected when an assistant district attorney asked for $1,000 cash bail because he said his client, Justin W. Ruggiero, 27, had spent 60 days in prison for driving with a suspended license. D'Angelo pointed out that prosecutors had misspelled his client's name and was describing the criminal history of the wrong man.

Ruggiero had no criminal record and was released without bail.

"What kind of evidence can they have if they can't get the correct spelling of the people's names?" D'Angelo asked outside court.

A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley responded. "Defense counsel can focus on clerical errors," said spokesman Jake Wark. "We're focused on evidence developed during three month of surveillance and four months of forensic accounting."

The toll-takers are accused of stealing $7,500 over three months from their booths near Logan International Airport. The alleged thefts were captured on surveillance cameras. On the most profitable shifts a toll-taker could take home an extra $150, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said at a press conference earlier this week. On less lucrative days, the loose change and dollar bills added up to only $20, Conley said.

Authorities said they do not know how long the employees were skimming money and how much ultimately was stolen. Turnpike Authority officials tipped off State Police to the potential problem in October, prompting a State Police investigation. All 10 toll-takers charged work at the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels connecting the city to Logan International Airport.

At those tunnels, taxicabs pay a higher rate than passenger vehicles. The toll-takers are supposed to press one of several buttons in the booth for each vehicle that passes, indicating whether it is a car, cab, or other kind of vehicle. Cabs pay $5.25, while cars pay $3.50. Before Jan. 1, the rates were $4.50 and $3, respectively.

Conley said the workers would charge the cab full fare, press the button for passenger cars, and then pocket the difference. In other cases, they would let two cars pass, but only press the button once, he said.

The toll booths near the airport are the easiest to skim from, because they rely on toll collectors to press buttons to differentiate cabs and regular cars. Other booths along the Pike do not charge separate rates for cabs. The same scheme could not be used for tractor-trailers, which are charged for each axle, because the Pike has trundles on the ground that detect how many axles are passing.

This morning prosecutors asked that one of the toll collectors -- Stephen Golisano, 35, of East Boston -- be held on $10,000 cash bail because he told the Globe in an interview earlier this week that he had plans to move to California. The judge ordered Golisano held on $1,000 cash bail. His lawyer, Robert Glotzer, declined to comment.

In the interview with the Globe earlier this week, he denied the charges. "It's not that I was trying to skim the money," Golisano said. "It's just that I hit the wrong button, trying to make the traffic quick."

He said the lines back up and toll-takers work fast so as not to upset the public.

"We make enough money there," Golisano said. "We don't need their money."

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