Former Chief To Pay $25K Restitution to Town

Former Hamilton Police Chief Walter D. Cullen will need to pay the Town of Hamilton $25,000 in restitution before his case is continued without a finding in 18 months.

On Monday in Salem Superior Court, Cullen pleaded guilty to the four indictments of larceny over $250, fraudulently obtaining EMT recertification status, falsely representing the town in salary negotiations that he was properly certified as an EMT and receiving payments from the town contingent upon an EMT certification.

The Commonwealth recommended Judge Timothy Feeley find Cullen guilty and sentence him to two years probation for indictments one and two, impose a $1,000 fine for count three and pay the town $25,000 in restitution citing significant costs associated with the investigation. If guilty, Cullen would not be eligible for his pension.

"As the police chief of a relatively small town, the defendant occupied an unequaled position of trust, authority and responsibility," Assistant District Attorney Edward Beagan told the court. "This case and the related investigations and prosecutions caused substantial humiliation to the Town of Hamilton and a crisis of confidence among the community."

Cullen, 66, a 43-year veteran of the force, was the highest ranking of four officials that were indicted as a result of the Hamilton EMT training scandal in 2008 and 2009. At the time, the Hamilton police ran the town’s ambulance service. Ambulance calls are now handled by Lyons ambulance.

Cullen's lawyer Willian Cintolo argued Cullen's actions were an aberration and should not define his 43-year career.

"It would be nice if you had some magical instrument you could use to look into this man's soul to see if this was an aberration or if it showed a dark heart," Cintolo told Judge Feeley. "His 43-year career putting his life on the line for the residents of Hamilton should be taken into account."

Cintolo noted the previous chief of police and chief of fire had not been certified as EMTs and at the time of the incidents, Cullen was getting ready to retire and was not administering patient care.

Cintolo argued for Judge Feeley to continue the case without a finding, thus allowing Cullen to still receive his pension. 

"This one incident should not define him for the rest of his life," Cintolo said while agreeing that the $25,000 restitution was a fair amount to impose.

Judge Feeley told Cullen not to commit any more crimes, pay restitution of $25,000 within 18 months and the case would be continued without a finding.

"He served the town professionally and with integrity for 43 years before this aberrational behavior. He is now retired and I do believe with the absence of social security payment, it would not be appropriate to leave him without the means of support in his later years," Feeley said. "With his admission of guilt in a small town, there comes humiliation and embarrassment."

In March, , two counts of attempted obstruction of justice and six counts of emergency services violations and was sentenced to one year of probation. Michalski submitted some of the EMT training records that falsely said Cullen attended the classes.

More than a year ago – last November - to two counts of filing a false written report and four EMS violations. He was also sentenced to a year of probation. Mastrianni organized EMT training classes that either didn't happen or lasted just one class when it was supposed to include many sessions.

The training fraud uncovered in Hamilton into whether EMTs were falsely signing class attendance sheets for classes they were not attending.

A fourth defendant in the case, former Lt. James Foley, is charged with attempting to commit a crime and an EMS violation. Foley appeared in Salem Superior Court Monday for a status review hearing. After a lobby conference with the judge, it was decided Foley would be back in court on Monday the 19.