Postal Inspector, Paralegal Charged With Perjury and Obstruction Of Justice

Postal Inspector charged with perjury; allegedly lied about relationship with paralegal

BOSTON, Mass. – A federal postal inspector and a former law firm paralegal have been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

On May 10, 2011, JOSEPH M. McGONAGLE, III, 37, of Danvers and MELANIE M. ABBRUZZESE, 31, were charged in federal court in a two count indictment with perjury and obstruction of justice. The indictments allege that on May 19, 2010, McGONAGLE and ABBRUZZESE testified falsely under oath in a court hearing that took place before United States District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr.

The court hearing at which they allegedly testified falsely took place in connection with the criminal trial in United States v. Eric L. Levine, et al (“Levine” case). At the time, McGONAGLE was a postal inspector assigned to assist in the investigation and prosecution of the Levine case. ABBRUZZESE was a paralegal employed by Denner Pelligrino, LLP, the law firm representing the defendant, Eric Levine.

As stated in the indictment, it was material to the May 19, 2010 hearing that the Court determine, among other things, whether MCGONAGLE and ABBRUZZESE had any personal interactions, by phone, email, in person, or otherwise and, if so, whether during those interactions there was a breach of confidentiality.

The indictments allege that their testimony on May 19th was false, in that contrary to their testimony, they had social out-of-office and out-of-court meetings that were not of a professional nature and that they exchanged emails that were of a personal nature. In addition, the indictments allege that McGONAGLE’s and ABBRUZZESE’s false testimony at the hearing obstructed justice in that they knowingly and willfully made false and misleading declarations before a Court of the United States with intent to obstruct and impede the Court’s inquiry into the nature of their relationship.

If convicted on these charges, they each face up to five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the perjury charge and up to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $ 250,000 fine on the obstruction of justice charge.
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Jane Hughes, Special Agent in Charge for the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Freniere of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

The details contained in the indictments are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

source: US Attorney’s Office District Of Massachusetts

6 thoughts on “Postal Inspector, Paralegal Charged With Perjury and Obstruction Of Justice

  1. Just points out how compromised USPS law enforcement agencies are. They are enforcement thugs for management. No more, no less. We have reported numerous assaults,theft & transactions to Postal Police, postal inspectors as well
    as postal management always to no avail. Yes, they fall under Homeland security.
    Homeland Security has zero interest in managing agencies that it does not have to spend a penny on. Best you can hope for is a case by case basis interaction by courts or a local congressman.

  2. What about all the other families that he is responsible for the total destruction of because of his actions or lack of actions? Surely this is not an isolated incident. At least the Inspector Generals Office is trying to look like they have some integrity.

  3. The Truth about all this is that Levine and his brother attorney are pulling at straws to try and do anything they can to lower his sentence. However the guy is a complete crook and criminal and deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail. this is just a ploy to waste the courts time. There is no substance to any of this. I say stop wasting the courts time and money and send this guy Levine to prison where he deserves. The guy litterally committed the worst kind of fraud, real estate/ attorney/insurance. He used foreigners to sign on and purchase properties and he would take money out of each transaction/ put insurance in his name and then take the insurance money when some of these house burned down or whatever happened to them. This guy is a criminal and deserves what he gets, the court should realize that he is just wasting time and is trying to bring innocent people into his mess.

  4. I’ll give you 500-1 after he is convicted he will be “re-assigned” after his promotion.

  5. Just great! Must be the clerks and carriers influence on PIS, correct? It is NEVER personal responsiblity when management and associates are concerned. 100:1 odds he gets the proverbial slap on the wrist–then a promotion.

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