Former Middlesex Assistant DA Alleged to Trade Info for Pills

Updated 3:49PM Friday, January 9, 2015

The following was released by the office of outgoing Attorney General and Medford resident Martha Coakley on Thursday afternoon:

“A former Middlesex Assistant District Attorney allegedly violated conflict of interest laws and has been indicted in connection with misuse of his position, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today. He allegedly traded information in exchange for oxycodone pills.

Stephen Gilpatric, age 35, of Somerville, was indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury on charges of Unlawful Gratuity, Unlawfully Communicating Criminal Offender Record Information, and Receiving Unlawful Compensation. He will be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday at 9 a.m.

Gilpatric served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office (MDAO) from November 2007 until October 2014, when the AG’s Office began an investigation. He most recently worked within the MDAO’s Public Protection, Anti-terrorism, Corruption and Technology (PACT) Unit, where he handled a variety of specialized prosecutions, including public corruption, white collar crime and major narcotics cases. The AG’s Office received the full cooperation of the MDAO throughout the investigation.

The investigation revealed that in October 2011, Gilpatric allegedly provided his drug supplier with information that he obtained through his position as an Assistant District Attorney in exchange for drugs. He allegedly gave this drug supplier sensitive information about another man, including a Board of Probation record, a police report, a photograph, and other personal identifying information, in exchange for oxycodone pills.

Authorities further allege that Gilpatric also provided additional confidential law enforcement information—a criminal record and an organizational chart of a drug ring—to this same drug supplier and his brother, hoping to receive pills in exchange.

At this time, the AG’s investigation has no evidence to suggest Gilpatric provided information related to any criminal cases he was personally investigating or prosecuting.

Additionally, in August 2011, Gilpatric allegedly made an agreement with a woman to help get her son’s commercial driver’s license back, which was revoked following a guilty plea in a criminal case, in exchange for $1,500.

Authorities allege that Gilpatric was spending hundreds of dollars a week to feed his addiction to Oxycontin.

This case is being handled by Assistant Attorney General James O’Brien, Chief of Attorney General Coakley’s Public Integrity Division, and Assistant Attorney General Dean Mazzone, Deputy Chief of the AG’s Criminal Bureau, with assistance from Sallyann Nelligan, Chief of the AG’s Financial Investigations Division, State Police assigned to the Attorney General’s Office, and the AG’s Digital Evidence Lab.”

On Friday Middlesex District Attorney Marion Ryan released the following statement:

“Our employees hold important positions of public trust and we take immediate action when that trust may have been violated.

Upon being informed about the investigation by the Attorney General’s Office in late October 2014, we suspended Stephen Gilpatric without pay and took measures to secure his computer and office area. As of November 11, Gilpatric was no longer employed by this office.

The cases Gilpatric had been handling are now being prosecuted by other Assistant District Attorneys in our office. The Attorney General’s Office has told us that the information Gilpatric allegedly provided to outside sources was unrelated to any criminal cases he was investigating or prosecuting and that the alleged criminal conduct did not occur after 2011. There is no evidence that any cases previously handled by Gilpatric were compromised or that he was involved in the distribution of narcotics.

Clearly, the activities that Gilpatric is alleged to have engaged in would be a violation of confidentiality laws. That being said, the unfortunate situation is that substance abuse affects people in all walks of life and sadly, as we have seen in many cases, illegal drug use often leads people to make bad decisions.”