Former State Sen. Brian Joyce Faces 100+ Federal Charges

BEACON HILL, MA – Former state senator Brian Joyce was arrested and charged in a federal court Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Joyce has been indicted on over 100 counts including racketeering, wire fraud, extortion, money laundering. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The 104-page federal indictment alleges the former Milton Democrat accepted a "stream of payments" for his influence or action. He also allegedly defrauded the IRS and laundered the payments he received through a shell company, according to the indictment.

The accusations include pressing the Milton Planning Board to approve the purchase and redevelopment of property by Joyce's friend in exchange for a Jeep Grand Cherokee and other gifts; creating a fake IRA account to hide part of his stock portfolio during an ethics investigation; receiving free or discounted goods (hundreds of pounds of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, sunglasses to gift to his fellow senators, free dry cleaning); and offering a solar energy company a permit in exchange for the retaining of Joyce's law office for $25,000.

Joyce's Canton law office was raided by the IRS and FBI last year. The raid was related to a series of Boston Globe stories investigating whether Joyce abused his position to benefit himself and his family. Joyce also paid $5,000 under an agreement made public by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance for using campaign funds to pay for his son's high school graduation party.

The year before Joyce stepped down from his leadership position as the assistant majority leader after meeting with state insurance regulators on behalf of a private client.

"Senator Joyce has been cooperating with each inquiry that has taken place to date resulting from those stories and believes that he has done absolutely nothing wrong," Howard Copper, Joyce's lawyer, said last year.

Joyce, 55, did not run for re-election following the raid of his law office. He represented Avon, Braintree, Canton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Milton, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton and West Bridgewater.

Watch Now: Former State Sen. Brian Joyce Charged In Federal Indictment