Parole Board Member That Freed Woburn Cop Killer Gets $200K

WOBURN, MA -- A former Massachusetts Parole Board member who voted to free a man that would later kill a Woburn Police oifficer in a 2010 shootout will be paid $200,000 under a settlement with the state. Pamela J. Lombardini had claimed that former Gov. Deval Patrick’s chief of staff and armed state troopers threatened her and forced her to resign after Dominic Cinelli killed Woburn patrolman John Maguire during a botched robbery of the Koh'ls Department store on Washington Street. Cinelli, who had been paroled in 2009, was serving three life sentences at the time of his release.

In her lawsuit, Lombardini claimed Patrick administration Chief of Staff William Cowan told her and other parole board members "it would get ugly" if they did not sign resignation letters during a January 13, 2011 meeting.

"It’s frustrating. Those people messed up and we have to pay for it," Robert DeNapoli, a former Woburn police officer, told the Boston Herald, which first reported this story.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).