BOSTON, June 19, 2017—District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s top white collar crime prosecutor and civilian investigator were honored last week for their work investigating and prosecuting financial crimes in Suffolk County.
Assistant District Attorney Michele Granda, Chief of Conley’s Special Prosecutions Unit, was honored last week at the 14th Annual Suffolk Awards with the Ralph C. Martin II Award to Outstanding Superior Court Prosecutor, while Civilian Investigator Bill Durette, also assigned to the Special Prosecutions Unit, was honored as this year’s Outstanding Superior Court Investigator. The awards were among several presented during a ceremony at Suffolk University Law School on Wednesday evening honoring prosecutors, advocates, civilian investigators, and support staff for their dedicated efforts on behalf of the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop.
Granda and Durette were both honored for their efforts combatting financial and white collar crime across Suffolk County.
As SPU chief, Granda investigates and prosecutes public corruption, financial fraud, and other complex offenses. The case she built against a former police officer who in 2014 beat a handcuffed suspect and lied about it in his report was so strong that he ultimately pleaded guilty to all charges, including a civil rights violation that a Suffolk Superior Court judge continued without a finding over prosecutors’ objections. Granda also successfully prosecuted two women on 82 indictments for wide-ranging schemes by which they defrauded doctors, state agencies, courts, and a 75-year-old neighbor suffering from dementia.
Durette, a longtime civilian investigator, has been instrumental in countless financial fraud and embezzlement cases, performing forensic accounting and other roles in cases such as the successful prosecution of a former attorney who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars in client funds from his firm and a bookkeeper who admitted to stealing more than $150,000 from her employer.
“Michele and Bill handle cases of extraordinary complexity and sensitivity. We’re extremely fortunate to have such skilled and dedicated professionals working in public service, and we’re grateful for their tireless efforts to gather every fact and understand every circumstance in crimes of almost every sort,” Conley said.
Also honored at last week’s ceremony were Assistant District Attorneys Adrian Bispham, Philip Cheng, Vincent DeMore, Donna Jalbert Patalano, Kacie Sherman, and Jack Zanini; Victim-Witness Advocates Edith Ayusa and Catherine McGuane; Civilian Investigator Nelson Alvarez; and Administrative Assistant Ramon Pascual.
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