Ex-Dedham Cop Violates Probation From Role In Kidnapping: Report

DEDHAM, MA — A former Dedham police officer, who was convicted on charges related to the kidnapping and death of an Avon man, violated his probation for a second time, according to prosecutors. Part of Michael Schoener's, 45, probation was to abstain from alcohol, and last month he failed an alcohol test, prosecutors said. On Friday, he failed to call the substance use testing center, which once again violated his probation, prosecutors told the Brockton Enterprise.

The probation stems from a conviction that Schoener's actions led to the kidnapping and death of James Robertson, 37. In April, Schoener was found guilty of being an accessory before the fact in a kidnapping.

In December 2013, Schoener let his drug dealer, James Feeney, borrow his police badge, gun holster, and handcuffs, prosecutors said. Then on New Year's Day 2014, Feeney gave the police gear to Scott Morrison and Alfred Ricci, who prosecutors said stormed the home of James Robertson, 37, with Schoener's gear.

Prosecutors said the men posed as probation officers and told Robertson he was being brought in for a required random drug test, a part of Robertson's probation related to minor charges. But in reality, the men took Robertson to Feeney to be beaten to death, prosecutors said. Robertson's body was found about two years later in the woods in Upton. Both Feeney and Morrison have been convicted for their roles in the murder-kidnapping. Ricci, testified as a cooperating witness in exchange for an eight-year sentence.

Schoener was sentenced to six to nine years in prison, but Defense Attorney John Gibbons asked that the sentence be ordered stayed pending appeal, which allows Schoener to delay serving the sentence until the appeals are exhausted. Norfolk Superior Court Judge Robert Cosgrove agreed to the stay. Prosecutors argued strongly against the appeal, the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Cosgrove has taken the probation case under advisement, but has not indicated when he will issue a ruling.