Sources told the Herald that the 66-year-old convicted extortionist is returning to his beloved Boston in the custody of U.S. Marshals to testify before a federal grand jury probing corruption in the state Probation Department, and they indicated he is likely taking the most common mode of federal inmate travel: in shackles, on a bus.
The probation investigation arose from the 2010 Ware Report, for which DiMasi's successor, Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, testified he'd personally recommended "a whole host of jobs" in government for people who'd asked. DeLeo's attorney, R. Robert Popeo, emphatically told the Herald yesterday, "He's not a target of this investigation. He has nothing to worry about, and I've told him so."
The Federal Bureau of Prisons listed DiMasi as "in transit" last night. Spokesman Chris Burke said the "general protocol" is to move prisoners by bus, several at a time, stopping at local lockups for the night, as the bus picks up and drops off prisoners at their destinations across the country.
Rise and shine Sal. You seem to have a four hour bus trip ahead of you. At least it's not on a Fung Wah.
