(August 2008)

Middlesex
County Register of Probate and former Somerville alderman John Buonomo
was arrested yesterday in connection with his alleged theft of public
monies.

Buonomo, 56, of Newton, was put in handcuffs Wednesday
by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District
Attorney's Office. He was charged with 18 counts of breaking and
entering into a depository, eight counts of theft of public property by
a City/Town/County Officer, and eight counts of larceny under $250.

Prosecutors
said Buonomo, a county-wide elected official, engaged in a repeated
pattern of stealing cash from copy machines and money machines at the
Office of the Register of Deeds over a period of weeks. Video
surveillance cameras installed by the Middlesex District Attorney's
PACT Unit allegedly captured Buonomo stealing numerous times during the
months of June, July, and August. The Register of Deeds office is
located in the same building as the Register of Probate office.

"It
is highly troubling that a public official would engage in the kind of
brazen theft of public monies that we allege here," Middlesex District
Attorney Gerry Leone said. "We believe that Mr. Buonomo violated the
public's trust by regularly accessing these cash machines without
authority and stealing taxpayer money. I want to thank the Secretary of
State's Office, the Registry of Deeds, the Trial Court, and the Chief
Justice for Administration and Management for their cooperation during
this investigation. I also want to commend the members of the
Massachusetts State Police in our PACT Unit for their comprehensive
investigation – and that investigation continues."

The
investigation, conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney's PACT
Unit, began in June when information was obtained regarding the
suspected ongoing theft of monies from numerous copy machines and cash
machines within the Registry of Deeds, located at 208 Cambridge Street
in Cambridge. The Registry of Deeds had noticed monthly shortages in
receipts received from their copy machines estimated to be as much as
thousands of dollars over a period of months.

Based on this and
other information obtained during a subsequent investigation, State
Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney's PACT Unit
installed video surveillance equipment in the second floor and basement
areas of the Registry of Deeds office. During the following weeks,
usually at the end of the work day, Buonomo was regularly observed on
video accessing the money machines in the basement and second floor of
the Registry of Deeds, prosecutors said. He was often captured on video
removing a stack of dollar bills, counting the money, and then
returning a portion of those bills to the machine while pocketing the
rest.

During the weeks of the investigation, Buonomo was
allegedly captured on video accessing one of the machines on at least
eighteen separate ccasions. He is believed to have taken cash for
himself on at least eight of those occasions.

According to the
Registry of Deeds, Buonomo has no authority to access the cash machines
or copy machines on the Registry of Deeds side of the building nor does
he have the authority to remove money from the machines.

The breaking and entering and theft of public property charges are felonies. The larceny under $250 is a misdemeanor charge.

Buonomo
faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the breaking and
entering into a depository charge. He has a long history in Somerville.
He was first elected to public office in the city in 1979 when he was
elected to the school committee. He then served as the Ward 4 alderman
for 12 years and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1989 and 1999.