Swampscott man must be locked up until drug trial, judge rules
He was arrested with Menino aide
A Swampscott man who was arrested with Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s liaison to East Boston on federal drug-dealing charges will be locked up until his trial, a magistrate judge ruled yesterday.
US Magistrate Judge Leo T. Sorokin agreed with federal prosecutors that Lawrence R. Taylor, 61, poses a potential danger to the community and might try to intimidate other witnesses, including an unidentified witness cooperating with authorities.
Sorokin said authorities had gathered substantial evidence that Taylor was involved in “a significant drug business.’’ The evidence included testimony by an IRS investigator at the first part of a detention hearing last week that the unemployed man had bank accounts totaling about $570,000 and had made more than 160 transactions that each involved less than $10,000. Banks must report transactions greater than $10,000 to the government.
“This is more than a case of two [drug] transactions,’’ Sorokin said of the evidence against Taylor, who was arrested Dec. 16 on a two-count indictment charging him with selling OxyContin in Danvers in September 2008 and March 2009.
John M. Forbes, who worked as Menino’s liaison to the East Boston community, was arrested the same day as Taylor on a two-count indictment charging him with distributing OxyContin and marijuana. Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler has yet to rule on a request by prosecutors to keep Forbes locked up until his trial.
Forbes, 31, resigned Dec. 23 and is being held in Plymouth County jail, with Taylor. His name never came up at Taylor’s detention hearing yesterday.
Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey M. Cohen has said that both men were involved in the drug trade with several other men, including a convicted murderer, Anthony W. Cristallo of Derry, N.H. Cristallo is being sought by federal authorities on a one-count indictment charging him with dealing OxyContin.
Taylor’s lawyer, Richard Chambers Jr. of Danvers, asked Sorokin to release his client on an electronic-monitoring bracelet so he could live with his 86-year-old mother until his trial. Chambers said Taylor has numerous medical problems, including chronic back pain, owns no car, and is no risk to flee.
But Cohen said federal authorities tracked Taylor in recent months traveling to Texas and Florida and taking frequent long car rides, raising doubts about the seriousness of his medical problems.
Federal pretrial service officers have filed a report that indicates that Taylor has a serious drug addiction, Sorokin said yesterday.
Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com. 
