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Fire Department clerk to plead guilty in fraud case

E-mail|Link|Comments () December 10, 2009 11:59 AM

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

A Boston Fire Department employee accused of perjury and obstruction of justice in a federal pension fraud investigation now plans to plead guilty to the offenses, court documents show.

Erica Boylan, a human resources clerk who was responsible for processing disability pension applications, notified officials at US District Court in Boston that she intends to change her not-guilty plea, the records filed on Wednesday show.

Boylan was indicted in October after she allegedly lied to a grand jury when she denied that firefighters had asked her to help them collect more pay by stalling the processing of their applications. Two former firefighters were indicted at the same time and charged with mail fraud after they allegedly faked on-the-job injuries to get disability pensions.

One of them, Albert Arroyo, participated in a bodybuilding contest just weeks after he claimed he injured his back and could no longer work as a fire inspector. The other, former deputy chief of personnel James Famolare, claimed he injured his back while moving a box of files at headquarters on the same day he was filling in for his supervisor at a higher pay rate.

Boylan is scheduled to enter her plea on Dec. 16.

A spokeswoman for US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz declined to say if the plea is part of an agreement with prosecutors.

"I can't comment," said Christina DiIorio-Sterling. "It's an ongoing investigation."

Legal specialists had said after her arrest that Boylan, just by the nature of her position in human resources, could have information valuable to prosecutors' cases against others in the pension fraud investigation.

She has been on paid administrative leave since her arrest in October. Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald could not immediately say today if she would be allowed to return to her job if she pleads guilty.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.