Hub judge scolds Gonzales for misconduct case pace
Boston HeraldBy O'Ryan Johnson Saturday, May 12, 2007
The chief federal judge in Boston sent a scathing letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday, accusing his office of dragging their feet by taking more than six months to provide records in the investigation of misconduct by a federal prosecutor.
Mark Wolf freed notorious Mafioso Vincent Ferrara in 2005 after he discovered federal prosecutor Jeffrey Auerhahn withheld a statement from a witness disputing Ferrara's role in a murder.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Wolf's decision, calling Auerhahn's actions "egregious," "outrageous," "feckless," and "painting a grim picture of blatant misconduct," Wolf wrote in his new letter to Gonzales, mailed yesterday.
"I was bringing the matter to your attention in the hope that further action by me would not be necessary," Wolf wrote of his initial Dec. 8, 2006, letter to the embattled Gonzales.
Erik Ablin, spokesman for Gonzales' office, declined to comment.