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Eagle Tribune - North Andover,
07 August 2007

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Officer fined $2K for not repo

LAWRENCE - The state Ethics Commission has fined a Lawrence police officer $2,000 for not immediately reporting that an illegal handgun was found under the bed of a city councilor's daughter.

The commission found that Officer Alberto Inostroza did a favor for the daughter of City Councilor Grisel Silva when he took the .22-caliber revolver from Silva's house to spare the daughter a criminal charge.

Inostroza has agreed to the fine and has waived all rights to contest the finding, according to an Ethics Commission decision.

Inostroza, who works the overnight shift, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Silva, who was under investigation by the ethics board for the same incident, initially agreed to respond to e-mail questions, but then refused to comment directly to The Eagle-Tribune.

The fine stems from a July 29, 2006, incident when Silva's husband, Nelson Silva, called Inostroza to the family's 9 Myrtle Court home because a gun was found beneath the bed of their daughter, Tatiana Colon, 17.

Inostroza took the gun and spoke with the daughter, who told him she found it on the ground, according to the Ethics Commission. Nelson Silva then asked Inostroza to "delay reporting the gun until they (the parents) had a chance to talk further with their daughter," according to the commission's report.

It wasn't until nine days later that Inostroza turned the gun in at the police station, after the department's internal affairs unit already opened an investigation into his conduct. Inostroza filed a report with mention of the gun after Nelson Silva called him to say he should do that, according to Inostroza's police report. That was the same day the Silvas were first interviewed by police.

Because a conviction of possession of a firearm without an identification card can mean two years in jail, the Ethics Commission determined that Inostroza used his role as a police officer to give an "unwarranted privilege of substantial value" to the councilor's daughter.

Inostroza also served a 10-day suspension for conduct unbecoming of an officer, costing him about $1,900 in salary.

The Police Department's internal investigation, which is separate from the one conducted by the Ethics Commission, found that "Councilor Silva used her position as a member of the Lawrence City Council to influence Officer Inostroza." That conclusion came with little input from the Silvas, who were interviewed once by police, but later refused to participate in the internal investigation, police Chief John Romero said at the time.

But Silva's statements at the time told a conflicting story. Saying she never intended for the gun to be withheld, she denied any wrongdoing and said she cooperated fully with police.

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Article sourced from

Eagle Tribune - North Andover,07 August 2007

Officer fined $2K for not repo

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Eagle Tribune - North Andover,
07 August 2007