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Councilor
Silva Cleared in
Hand-Gun Incident
Tom Duggan
(08/03/07)
Almost exactly one year after
a gun was found at the home of Lawrence City Councilor
Grisel Silva, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission
has cleared the district
B councilor of allegations that she used her
influence as an elected official to cover up the fact
that a gun was found in her home.
The gun was found by a family member in the bedroom of
Silvas 17 year old daughter, Tatiana Colon, who has
learning disabilities.
In a press release issued after the incident, Councilor
Silva stated that her husband Nelson, had called Lawrence
Police Officer Albert Inastroza, whom they both knew,
when a member of the family brought the gun to his
attention. The Silvas say they handed the gun over to
Inastroza with the belief that he would turn in the gun
and begin an official investigation.
But Inastroza did not turn in the gun right away, nor did
he file a police report, setting off a firestorm of
accusations in the local press that Silva was taking
advantage of her position as a city councilor by calling
a friend on the police department to cover up
the crime.
Inastroza was suspended for twenty-days by Lawrence Mayor
Michael Sullivan for not filing a report or turning in
the gun right away, despite the fact that
there is no official policy as to when an officer has to
turn evidence in to the police station during an ongoing
investigation.
Inastroza finally did file a police report several days
after the incident, and after an internal investigation
had already begun. In his report, Inastroza claimed that
Councilor Silva and her husband had asked him not to turn
in the gun until he heard from them.
The daily and weekly newspapers reported the allegations
against Silva as gospel while the Lawrence Police
Department continually questioned and investigated Silvas
daughter, Tatiana Colon for gun possession.
Colon was charged with illegal possession of a firearm
after a magistrates hearing in Lawrence District Court.
She pleaded innocent of the charges and an arraignment
was held before Judge Brennan, who continued the case
without a finding and ordered Colon to serve six months
of unsupervised probation.
Based on press accounts and an anonymous complaint to the
Massachusetts State Ethics Commission an investigation
began into Silvas role in covering up her daughters
gun possession.
Silva testified before the Commission in April where she
continually denied any involvement, saying that her
husband made the call to Inastroza and that she never
handled the gun nor did she ask Inastroza not to turn it
in.
Most parents, if they found out that their daughter
brought home a gun would have thrown it away and not told
anyone, Silva told the Valley Patriot. We
didnt do that. My husband called a police officer
to investigate where the gun came from and to scare the
fear of God into our daughter. Ever since then, and
because of politics, we have been under a cloud of
suspicion. I have never used my position as a city
councilor to get favors from anyone, especially law
enforcement, Silva concluded.
Silva says that the news that she has been cleared by the
Ethics Commission vindicates what she has been saying all
along, All I have heard since this incident began
is how I am some corrupt politician who abuses her
office. My political adversaries have been having a field
day in the press and on the radio giving out
misinformation and outright lies about what happened in
this case. The fact is, my daughter found a gun, we
called a police officer, we cooperated with the Lawrence
police during the investigation, and we never tried to
cover up anything.
My Family and I are very happy that this is over
and hopefully it marks the end of all the false
allegations and the disinformation campaign against my
husband and me, Silva said.
It has really been an honor and a privilege to be a
Lawrence City councilor and it really hurt me that people
could think that I would do something to dishonor the
voters who put me here.
Silva says that the ordeal was toughest on her family,
my family has gone though an awful lot because they
are related to an elected official and they dont
deserve that. The irresponsible accusations that have
been made and the one sided reporting by the
Eagle~Tribune took a real toll on them, but now we will
be happy to move on and concentrate on making the city of
Lawrence a better place to live.
The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission began their
investigation on January 24th of this year. According to
records obtained by the Valley Patriot the commission
conducted a preliminary inquiry pursuant to section
4 of G.L. c. 268B into whether you violated the conflict
of interest law
[i]n particular, the inquiry
focused on allegations that you knowingly or with reason
to know use or attempt to use your city council position
to have a police officer fail to take timely and
appropriate actions concerning a gun possession incident
involving your child, an unwarranted privilege of
substantial value not properly available to similarly
situated individuals.
According to the Ethics Commission records, they met in
executive session on July 25th of this year and voted to
terminate the inquiry. This ends the commissions
inquiry and all records shall remain confidential,
the records state.
Silva is a candidate for reelection in the fall and says
that the timing of the Ethics Commission ruling may take
the wind out of the sails of her critics and her
opponent.
Up until now they thought they were going to be
able to continue a campaign of disinformation and
campaign against me in the fall saying that Councilor
Silva is corrupt and under investigation by the Ethics
Commission. Now they wont be able to do that.
Now they will be forced to campaign on the issues that
affect the people of my district and that benefits
everyone. I am very proud of my record on the council and
whatever the voters decide I will respect that, I am just
glad they will now be making that decision based on facts
instead of lies and false allegations.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The August 2007 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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