Ex-cop admits to ethics violation
By George P. Hassett

A Somerville police officer, fired for unethical behavior, now admits he violated state law by attempting to use his official position to purchase a Vernon Street home at a sharply reduced rate.  The confession was made public on Monday.

  Scott Trant agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the State Ethics Commission, a $600 reimbursement to a homeowner and attend an ethics commission seminar for his attempt to purchase the two-family home at 21 Vernon St. The tentative agreement still needs the approval of the ethics commission.
  Trant did not return phone calls.
  Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone said the possible settlement validates the city‚Äôs actions against Trant.
‚ÄúScott Trant is no longer disputing the facts and is admitting to the severity of the charges,‚Äù Curtatone said. ‚ÄúThe State Ethics Commission is completely independent of the City of Somerville, but their findings underscore our own investigation and hearings.‚Äù 
  The proposed settlement states that on Feb. 9, 2005, an Everett woman visited the Somerville Police Department and sought assistance from Trant, who was on duty and in uniform, regarding her ex-husband.  The woman told Trant about her ex-husband‚Äôs behavior and questionable mental state.  The ex- husband was living as a squatter in an illegal apartment in the basement of 21 Vernon St., a dilapidated property owned by the Everett woman and her two children. City officials had repeatedly cited the property for code violations.
  The woman had agreed to have her ex-husband removed from the property and to correct any code violations as part of a January 2004 agreement with the city‚Äôs Inspectional Services Division (ISD). 
  According to the settlement, the ethics commission and Trant agree the woman told him on Feb. 9 she had considered selling the property and had rejected an offer of $100,000.  Trant then offered to purchase the house, which was assessed at $438,700, for approximately $200,000.
  Trant admits in the settlement he attempted to phone ISD Feb. 9 and 10 to gain more information about the city‚Äôs action involving the house and contacted the psychiatric unit of Cambridge Hospital for information about ‚Äúgetting someone committed.‚Äù He then went to 21 Vernon St. to conduct a welfare check and reported to Cambridge Hospital on the ex-husband‚Äôs condition. The next day the ex-husband was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility, allegedly so that Trant could buy the home at a deep discount. Curtatone has maintained Trant wrongly had the ex-husband committed. The man was released from Cambridge Hospital three days later.
  Trant again offered by phone to purchase the house for $200,000 Feb. 23.  He had an attorney draw up a standard purchase-and-sale agreement and gave it to the Everett woman. After the Somerville Police Department began investigating Trant‚Äôs conduct, he increased his offer to $300,000. City officials alerted the State Ethics Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to the situation.
  Ultimately, the property transaction did not occur, and Trant requested the Everett woman pay $600 for his legal fees, which she did. Under the proposed agreement between Trant and the ethics commission, Trant will reimburse the woman.
  In the agreement with the ethics commission, Trant admitted to the facts presented by the commission and that he repeatedly violated the state‚Äôs conflict of interest law, which prohibits municipal employees from ‚Äúusing or attempting to use his official position to secure for himself or others unwarranted privileges or exemptions of substantial value not properly available to similarly situated individuals.‚Äù
  Trant also admitted he attempted to use his position as a police officer to secure his private purchase of 21 Vernon St. in a quicker time frame and at a reduced rate.   
  Trant was suspended for five days starting June 1, and after two hearings, he received a letter from Curtatone telling him he was fired on Sept. 20.
  To regain his job as a Somerville police officer, Trant is appealing his dismissal to the state Civil Service Commission. Curtatone said the settlement with the ethics commission does not change Trant‚Äôs status with the Somerville Police Department.
  ‚ÄúOur position remains the same. We can not have a police officer committing offenses of this kind and then repeatedly lying about it. That is why he is no longer an employee of the City of Somerville,‚Äù Curtatone said.