Former Norfolk County Sheriff's Official Sentenced For Home Repairs Scheme

BOSTON, MA — A former Norfolk County Sheriff's Office official was sentenced in federal court in Boston on charges stemming from the misuse of his position and an attempt to interfere with an investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

Thomas Brady, 55, of Norwood, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick to 20 months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $5,000 fine. Brady pleaded guilty in June to one count of witness tampering and one count of use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion.

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Federal prosecutors said Brady served as Assistant Deputy Superintendent for Jail Operations at the Norfolk County Sheriff's Office from 2021 through May 2023 before being promoted to Assistant Superintendent. In October and November 2022, Brady used his position to direct a subordinate maintenance officer to perform repairs on the heating system at his private residence.

The maintenance officer complied because he feared refusing the request could negatively affect his employment, work schedule or position within the sheriff's office, prosecutors said. The officer traveled to Brady's residence during work hours to troubleshoot the heating system and later returned, along with another maintenance officer, to replace a circulator pump.

The case came to light in June 2023 when another maintenance officer reported Brady's conduct to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, which launched an investigation and interviewed employees involved in the repairs. Prosecutors said Brady later learned of the investigation and, in October 2023, mailed a handwritten letter to the commission that was falsely signed in the reporting employee's name.

The letter disclosed information about a confidential internal investigation involving one of the maintenance officers who had performed the repairs and listed Brady as a witness. Federal investigators linked Brady to the letter through a fingerprint found underneath the envelope's postage stamp and DNA recovered from the envelope.

During sentencing, the court also found that Brady engaged in a campaign to disparage victims and witnesses involved in the investigation. Prosecutors said Brady anonymously sent a letter to a school attended by a minor relative of the employee who had reported him, falsely accusing the employee of sexually abusing the relative.

The school reported the letter to the Department of Children and Families, which triggered an emergency investigation based on the false accusation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucy Sun of the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case.