State Ethics Probe Into Worcester DA, State Police Brass Dropped

WORCESTER, MA — The state Ethics Commission Wednesday dismissed its probe into Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. and other law enforcement officials over their involvement in changing an arrest report written by state police who arrested a local judge's daughter in 2017.

Two state police officers arrested the daughter of a Westborough Judge in 2017 on an OUI charge. A subsequent police report included embarrassing statements she made, but Early and state police leaders worked to remove them.

In response to the Ethics Commission decision, Early said he was trying to protect a person struggling with addiction.

"Five years ago, I exercised my broad discretion as district attorney to protect the basic human dignity of a young woman suffering from a potentially fatal addiction. The DA's office will continue to protect such people in peril in the numerous, unpredictable, and challenging circumstances prosecutors face every day. Mercy and compassion must always have a place in our government," the statement said.

Former state police officers Susan Anderson and Richard McKeon, and assistant district attorney Jeffrey Travers, were also part of the probe.

The Ethics Commission, which oversees a host of state ethics laws, said it did not find evidence that the four officials either benefited from changing the police report or were "unduly influenced by the judge or his daughter."

Two state troopers, Ryan Sceviour and Ali Rei, initially brought the allegations to light in 2018 as part of a federal lawsuit. The Ethics Commission launched a separate inquiry into Sceviour and Rei's claims in June 2020.

"Although we have reached our determination as to the failure of proof on the substantial value element ... we take this opportunity to note that to the extent there were any concerns about protecting [the judge’s daughter] from prejudicial pretrial publicity in order to preserve her constitutional right to a fair trial, the better practice would have been to do so by filing a motion to redact to avoid the specter of special or favorable treatment raised by this case," the commission said.