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John J. O'Brien is a former commissioner of the Massachusetts Probation Service who has been convicted of four counts of mail fraud, and one count each for racketeering, and racketeering conspiracy. The verdict was pronounced on July 24, 2014. He was convicted by a 12-member federal jury of the U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts. US District Court Judge William G. Young was the presiding judge. The jury deliberated for seven days and the case lasted two months.
The case centered on patronage hiring at the Massachusetts Probation Department during Mr. O'Brien's tenure as commissioner. Currently, Mr. O'Brien is due to be sentenced on either November 12 or November 13, 2014.
On December 19, 2016 the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the conviction of O'Brien and ordered the entry of acquittals on all counts citing insufficiency of evidence. The Court of Appeals also admonished the lower court for the allowance of a high number of juror questions at trial.