Thomas Finneran represented the district that included parts of the Boston neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park as well as parts of the town of Milton for 26 years.
16 Facts About Thomas Finneran
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2.
Thomas Finneran resigned and accepted the position of President of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
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Thomas Finneran attended the Boston Latin School, graduated from Northeastern University in 1973 with a BA in business administration and finance, and received his JD from Boston College Law School.
4.
Thomas Finneran was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1978.
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Thomas Finneran became the 83rd Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1996, when he defeated Democratic Majority Leader Richard Voke, the favorite to win, by obtaining all 35 votes of the Republican caucus as well as 56 of 121 Democratic votes.
6.
On January 5,2007, prior to the start of the scheduled criminal trial Thomas Finneran pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice in exchange for federal prosecutors' dropping perjury charges against him; the plea bargain allowed him to avoid jail time.
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Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Thomas Finneran recommended that the once-powerful figure on Beacon Hill receive 18 months of unsupervised probation and a $25,000 fine.
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In return, Thomas Finneran agreed not to run for any elected political position in state, federal or municipal government for five years after his sentencing date.
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Retirement Board voted in October 2012, that Thomas Finneran was not entitled to a government pension of about $32,900 a year due to his conviction of obstruction of justice in 2007.
10.
Thomas Finneran served as president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council since he resigned from the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2004 until January 8,2007.
11.
On January 8,2007, less than a week after the plea agreement, Thomas Finneran resigned from Biotechnology Council; the council unanimously accepted his resignation.
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Thomas Finneran had been praised as a highly effective lobbyist; his resignation permitted an internal debate about having a felon for the council's president to end.
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Thomas Finneran's disbarment was retroactive to January 23,2007.
14.
On January 11,2007, Thomas Finneran was announced as the morning drive-time host on the Boston WRKO radio station, replacing Scott Allen Miller.
15.
On March 5,2017, the state's highest court has ruled that former Speaker of the House Tom Thomas Finneran has to forfeit his pension, ending a years-long battle the former pol waged to keep his $33,000-a-year benefit.
16.
Thomas Finneran pleaded guilty in 2007 to one count of obstruction of justice.