Judge: No Bail for Alleged Attempted Robbery Conspirator

John Salvucci's attempt to be freed while awaiting trial on a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery was rejected by a federal judge last week.

Salvucci, 65, of Medford, , according to prosecutors. The plan was thwarted when a man Salvucci tried to recruit to help with the job tipped off the FBI and agreed to have phone conversations with Salvucci recorded, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors.

He has been in the custody of U.S. Marshalls since his arrest in January.

During an April hearing and in subsequent court memos, Salvucci's attorney, Paul F. Ware, argued he should be released on bail until his trial. But a federal judge last week rejected arguments that Salvucci wouldn't be a threat to the public -- or the government witness who recorded his phone calls. While Salvucci helped plot the crime, he didn't intend to participate in the crime, Ware wrote.

Salvucci would have no motivation to harm the witness because the audio recordings and surveillance in the case would stand up in court whether the witness testifies or not, Ware said in the filing.

"It would be futile for Mr. Salvucci to take any action against any supposed government witness, and he has no motivation to do so," Ware wrote.

Salvucci allegedly recruited two men with lengthy criminal histories -- James Chambers, 53, of Stoneham and George Whalen, 55, of Winthrop -- to carry out the planned robbery and scoped out the Norwood store. But he didn't plan to physically participate in the robbery, said.

“To whatever extent (Salvucci) may have had any involvement in the
alleged offense, he did not agree to participate in the robbery itself," Ware wrote.

In their own filings, prosecutors said those arguments had no merit.

"The fact that (Salvucci) would not physically have been involved in the actual
robbery does not in any way minimize the danger he presents to the community at large and potential witnesses in this case in particular," prosecutor Michael Crowley wrote in a filing earlier this month.

Included in Salvucci's federal court file is a 10-page rap sheet dating back to 1966 that includes convictions in separate incidents on charges of armed robbery, conspiracy, forgery and assault with intent to rob. Those crimes occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.

Magistrate Judge Judith Gail Dein denied Salvucci's request for bail in an order entered May 22.

"The government has met its burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of any other person or the community," the order said.

Salvucci was indicted in February. No date has been set for the start of his trial.

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