Member of Boston Mayor’s Office Faces Money Laundering Charges

Freda Brasfield, a top finance director in Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office, has been charged with money laundering and conspiracy.

The “Democratic political activist and community organizer” was allegedly involved in a scheme to “get synthetic drugs into [the] state prison system,” according to Boston 25 TV journalist Bob Ward.

BREAKING: Top Boston Finance Director Freda Brasfield indicted, charged w/money laundering in alleged scheme to get synthetic drugs into state prison system. We were only media at Superior Court. My exclusive story @Boston 25, 5 PM. pic.twitter.com/6Isqidq60q

— Bob Ward Boston 25 (@Bward3) February 10, 2023

Brasfield is “one of multiple defendants charged in the case.”

WATCH:

Freda Brasfield, the DEMOCRAT finance director in the Boston Mayors office put on leave. She is accused of money laundering and conspiracy in a prison drug scheme pic.twitter.com/ocuDjdEarA

— Angry Frog ™ (@angrifrog) February 11, 2023

Boston 25 News reported:

Brasfield, who is also a longtime Boston Democratic political activist and community organizer, appeared in Woburn Superior Court, along with two co-defendants, Jaime Liberty and Jayleen Rivera, both of whom are facing charges of conspiring to smuggle drugs into MCI Shirley.

Brasfield, who is represented by Boston attorney David Meier, entered a plea of not guilty to one charge of money laundering and a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Brasfield, Liberty, and Rivera were released on personal recognizance.

According to records on file at Woburn Superior Court, a grand jury indicted Freda Brasfield on Dec. 15, 2022.

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Prosecutors allege the smuggling scheme stretches back to January 2021 and that it involved a conspiracy to smuggle synthetic cannabinoids known as K2 and Spice into MCI Shirley. Prosecutors say it involved four inmates, including Brasfield’s nephew, and five “non-incarcerated relations or significant others,” including Freda Brasfield.

According to the Commonwealth’s Statement of the Case, Manuel “Junior” Dasilva, a former MCI Shirley inmate, worked with the nine co-defendants to get synthetic drugs inside MCI Shirley.

If a grand jury indicted Brasfield in December 2022, why was she allowed to continue working for nearly two months?

It’s a striking example of corruption and many constituents want answers from the mayor’s office.

WATCH:

Boston City Hall Financial Director Freda Brasfield was criminally INDICTED in DECEMBER 2022. But allowed to keep working/collecting a pay check under @MayorWu until today? City Hall failed to respond to @boston25 in a timely fashion. So much for #transparency Michelle Wu. Fraud! pic.twitter.com/8cGHfMOhJr

— Boston First Responders United (BFRU) (@BostonFRU) February 10, 2023