State Police Fire Trooper in Bribery Case
Yesterday, a Departmental Trial Board found FORREST, 62, of Stoneham, guilty of five separate violations of Department Rules and Regulations: unbecoming conduct; failure to comply with laws; unsatisfactory performance; abuse of process; and failure to be truthful.
FORREST had been suspended without pay since his 2009 arrest in connection with a conspiracy to accept cash bribes. As a member of the Department's Salvage Title Section, his duties were to inspect badly damaged vehicles that had undergone extensive repairs, confirm that the vehicles had in fact been repaired, ensure that no stolen parts had been used in the repairs, and issue the paperwork that allows such vehicles to return to the road. Forrest, however, accepted cash from a Revere body shop in return for his signing and approving the mandatory Salvage Inspection Forms without inspecting the cars. Because the vehicles went uninspected, they could be released to the road with serious - and possibly dangerous - defects.
FORREST pled guilty Jan. 20 in Suffolk Superior Court to one count each of bribery, making a false statement in an application for a title certificate, conspiracy to commit bribery, and conspiracy to make a false statement in an application for a title certificate. He was arrested in June 2009 after State Police investigators uncovered the scheme.
"There is no place in this Department for corrupt police officers, and termination is the only appropriate outcome for our internal review," Colonel Marian J. McGovern, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, said. "The defendant's disgraceful actions make him unworthy of the title of Massachusetts State Trooper."
McGovern praised State Police detectives whose investigation led to the indictments of FORREST and two co-defendants.