Framingham Detective Claims Corruption in Suit Against Town and Chief

A Framingham Police detective has filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Framingham and Police Chief Kenneth Ferguson saying his suspension was retaliation for reporting alleged corruption by the department to the FBI, according to federal court records.

Detective Matthew Gutwill, a 12-year-veteran of the department and former President of the Framingham Police Association, filed the lawsuit Friday in Boston federal court.

The complaint alleges Gutwill was suspended in August because he revealed departmental corruption to the FBI.

The lawsuit also charges that Gutwill’s decision to accuse a fellow detective of lying under oath led to him being shunned, harassed, and removed from a long-held position.

Gutwill said he was removed from his position on the DEA Task Force by Ferguson in retaliation for saying Detective Joseph Godino's testimony was "less than truthful."

>>> Click here to read the full lawsuit, first obtained by Fox25

Patch's attempts to contact Framingham Police Tuesday night were unsuccessful, but Framingham Town Manager Bob Halpin told FOX25, “We note an absence of fact in the allegations" and that the town's independent investigations into Gutwill's allegations showed him to be "untruthful."

According to the lawsuit, Gutwill went to the FBI in January 2016 to report corruption related to the Godino investigation that followed his internal complaint, as well as other incidents. Ferguson then drummed up false charges against Gutwill, the lawsuit charges. Ferguson said Gutwill threatened to "turn the place upside down" or "blow the place up," which Gutwill denied exactly saying.

"The Defendants' decision to suspend Det. Gutwill was, in reality, motivated by Det. Gutwill's instigation of the Godino Complaint and, ultimately, his reporting on a matter of public concern to the FBI: police corruption," the complaint reads.

"Untruthfulness" was what Ferguson placed Gutwill on leave for, according to the lawsuit.

The genesis of the issue appeared to occur on Sept. 1, 2015, when Gutwill said Godino's testimony "in connection with a motion to suppress a gun found in a car following a motor vehicle stop" - a stop in which both officers took part - was false.

Court records show Gutwill's written complaint against Godino said Godino was being "less than truthful and in an attempt to protect a confidential informant his testimony misled the court to believe the source of the information came from myself." Gutwill wrote it brought "great harm to my reputation and credibility."

An internal investigation by Sgt. Chris Montuori found Godino to be guilty of being untruthful. The lawsuit alleges that Ferguson asked Montuori to change his findings from "sustained" to "unfounded," and when Montuori refused, Ferguson assigned Lt. Victor Periera to review Montuori's report. The lawsuit claims Periera had no experience in internal affairs investigations.

Periera reversed the findings of the Montuori report, concluding, "I'm concerned that this incident has cast a negative light on the Police Department and with the officers in particular. I'm also concerned that this incident may cause a rift within the Department and Narcotics Unit, if it hasn't done so already," according to the lawsuit.

Upon receiving Periera's findings, the lawsuit says Ferguson sent a memo on Jan. 8, 2016 to Godino, Gutwill, and his Deputy Chiefs stating he concurred with Periera's findings that Gutwill's claim was "unfounded."

Right around the same time Periera reviewed the Montuori report, Ferguson allegedly decided to remove Gutwill from the DEA Task Force. Gutwill was removed from the position he held for more than seven years on Jan. 29, 2016.

The lawsuit says Ferguson told Gutwill the decision was made at the request of Special Agent in Charge of DEA Task Force Michael Ferguson. Gutwill asked his immediate supervisor if Michael Ferguson had made that decision, and Gutwill was told he did not, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges Chief Ferguson did not want the information about an officer lying under oath to be publicized because of recent negative press, including issues related to alleged evidence room scandals.

The lawsuit says Gutwill told the FBI about multiple alleged instances of corruption in the Framingham Police Department, including:

• "Det. Godino having lied under oath and Chief Ferguson having covered it up;
• Members of the FPD Narcotics Unit putting false information in their affidavits in order to hide the fact that they, in violation of proper protocols, (a) let confidential informants buy drugs for their own use after making undercover buys for the FPD, (b) let witnesses participate in undercover buys, and (c) used an informant to create probable cause for search warrants even after they were informed by the DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that the informant was involved in illegal activity and intercepted on a federal wire;

• Members of the FPD Detective Division taking "mementos" from crime scenes which they did not catalogue and which they hung in their offices as decorations;

• Chief Ferguson having allowed Lt. Pereira to study for his law degree while on duty;

• Asst. Simoneau, an attorney who was employed by the Town as a special police officer and Assistant to the Chief, being allowed to appear in court on behalf of his private clients during his FPD work hours and accessing law enforcement databases for the benefit of his private clients;

• Deputy Chiefs failing to put in full work weeks; and
• Multiple sergeants double dipping (e.g., saying they were taking the day off of work but instead working "overtime" or being paid for regular duty but also getting paid for working on a special detail at the same time) and Chief Ferguson being aware of the sergeants' double dipping."

Gutwill was one of several officers put on paid leave in August.

The MetroWest Daily News, citing town records, reported that Gutwill made $153,820 in 2015.