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Community Corner

Craig Opposes Gun Bill

Upton, MA …Today Shawn Craig, Republican candidate for State Representative and Iraq war veteran, announced that he opposes the bill aimed at curbing gun violence because it fails to accomplish the mission.

“As an Iraq war veteran I take the Bill of Rights very seriously.  The so-called gun violence bill before the House today infringes on the rights of lawful gun owners,” said Craig.

The flaws in the legislation include: unfunded mandates for schools, takes away due process in being able to own a gun, and fails to strengthen laws regarding criminals and enforcing the laws.

“Our communities cannot afford anymore unfunded mandates.  While they are well intentioned, unfunded mandates are breaking the budgets for schools and municipalities,” said Craig.

Massachusetts already has some of the toughest gun laws on the books.  For example, the Bartley-Fox law is supposed to require a one year in jail mandatory sentence for illegally possessing a gun.  This law is rarely enforced.

Here is a small sample of the failures to prosecute in Worcester County from 2013:

Jun 26, 2013 David Phillips, 57, of Westfield four counts of possession of a firearm without a firearm ID card were dismissed.

Jun 25, 2013 Fernando Davis, 29, 13 Marshall St., Worcester three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a firearm with ammunition were dismissed at the request of the commonwealth.

Jun 25, 2013 Jordan Pizzaro, 18, 7 Mattson Ave., Worcester, charged with possession of a firearm without a firearm ID card, dismissed.

June 21, 2013 Jerome Lee, 30, of 23 Edgeworth St., Worcester A charge of carrying a firearm with ammunition was dismissed.

June 21, 2013 Jector Torres, 24, of 39 Fox St., Worcester Two counts of firearm violation with three prior violent or drug crimes were dismissed.

June 10, 2013 Michael J. Cali, 29, 2080 West St., Barre, charged with assault with dangerous weapon (firearm), dismissed.

Jun 7, 2013 Jose L. Ortiz, 28, of 8 Boylston St., Worcester A charge of carrying a firearm with ammunition was dismissed.

Jun 5, 2013 Pedro Luis Gomez, 21, of 47 Mendon St., Worcester A charge of carrying a firearm with ammunition was dismissed.

May 23, 2013 Paul R. Hakkarainen, 35, 159 Baker St., Gardner possession of a firearm without a firearm ID card were dismissed.

May 23, 2013 Dammon Bonner, 27, 180 Fairway Ave., Worcester A charge of firearm violation with two prior violent or drug crimes was dismissed.

May 22, 2013 Kendra Erickson, 37, of 159 Baker St., Gardner possession of a firearm without a firearm ID card. The charges were dismissed at the request of the commonwealth.

May 22, 2013 Juan Roman-Rivera, 34, of 39 Benefit St., Worcester assault with a dangerous weapon (firearm) and threatening to commit a crime (assault and battery with a dangerous weapon), dismissed.

May 22, 2013 Daniel G. Grenon, 25, 94 N. Main St., Webster firearm possession without FID card, dismissed by request of the state.

May 16, 2013 Shawn Fleury, 36, 3 Clement St., Worcester Four counts of firearm violation with one prior violent or drug crime were dismissed.

May 8, 2013 Anthony Concepcion, 34, of 3 Wachusett St., Worcester A charge of possession of a firearm without a firearm ID card was dismissed.

Apr 17, 2013 Gerard Tyrone Day Jr., 20, of 173 Eastern Ave., Worcester Charges of armed assault with intent to murder (firearm) and firearm violation with one prior violent or drug crime were dismissed at the request of the commonwealth.

Apr 5, 2013 Cody Dinoi, 21, of 6 Princeton St., Worcester, A charge of possession of a firearm without a firearm ID card was dismissed.

March 22, 2013 Lloyd Dey, 19, of 45 Grand St., Worcester A charge of possession of a firearm without a Firearm ID Card was dismissed.

Mar 11, 2013 Sirano Harrison, 39, of Springfield Charges of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and two counts of firearm violation with two prior violent or drug crimes were dismissed.

“The law abiding citizens of Upton, Northbridge and Grafton can depend on me to stand up for their Constitutional rights,” said Craig.

Craig is a member of the Upton Finance Committee and is the liaison to the Mendon Upton Regional School District.  He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Mendon-Upton Multi-Board Task Force.  In addition, he is an active member of the VFW and Upton Men’s Club.

Professionally, Craig has 18 years of private sector experience with the majority spent within the financial services industry.  He worked for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) for 8.5 years where he investigated broker-dealers for compliance with federal securities laws and FINRA rules and regulations.  This included both routine as well as special investigations involving the review and discovery of money laundering, fraud, embezzlement, insider trading and unsuitable investments. One investigation of which he was the team lead resulted in the discovery of fraud and misrepresentation at a firm located in Braintree, MA.  Craig drafted a referral whereby the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission became engaged along with the FBI.  The firm’s owner was detained October 2, 2012 and sentenced in April 2013 to 17 years in federal prison plus 3 years supervised probation and $9 million in restitution.  Craig left FINRA in 2013 to start a consulting business focused on helping small broker-dealers.

Craig earned his B.A. from Roanoke College, where he double majored in International Relations and Business, and an M.S. in Finance from Suffolk University in Boston.

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