State Search Warrant Executed at Mayor’s Office

Massachusetts state investigators searched Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña’s office on Thursday, according to WCVB, in the latest step in a state investigation into alleged secret recordings inside City Hall. The search follows an earlier April warrant in which state police assigned to Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office seized recording equipment connected to cameras outside the mayor’s office. City Attorney Timothy Houten previously said the first warrant was issued by the attorney general’s office and signed by a judge in Suffolk County. Lawrence officials have not said what, if anything, investigators took in the latest search. ### Why did investigators return to the mayor’s office? Thursday’s search came as the attorney general’s office continues examining whether conversations were recorded without consent inside Lawrence City Hall. WCVB reported that authorities searched DePeña’s office while investigators were already reviewing a separate recording case in the city. April 8 marked the first public sign of the criminal inquiry, when Houten told a City Council meeting that a recording device had been seized by law enforcement and that the investigating agency was not the Lawrence Police Department. WBUR later reported that state police executed that warrant in DePeña’s office on April 6 and seized equipment allegedly used to record audio. ### What started the wiretapping investigation? (wcvb.com) A leaked recording of a hallway conversation triggered the state probe, according to WBUR and WCVB. The recording captured a heated exchange involving William Castro, then DePeña’s chief of staff, and Francisco Ureña, the city’s airport director, WBUR reported. WCVB reported that one camera outside the mayor’s office recorded both video and audio, and that the material was sent to a receiver in Castro’s office. (wcvb.com) State police assigned to the attorney general’s office later seized that receiver under a search warrant, according to WCVB. ### What is known about the cameras themselves? City officials told the Lawrence City Council that the cameras were installed in 2023, according to WCVB. (wbur.org) The devices were positioned outside the mayor’s office on the third floor of City Hall, and councilors said one unauthorized device was found there after video began circulating publicly. Massachusetts law makes it a felony to record someone’s conversation without consent, WCVB reported in its coverage of the case. (wcvb.com) That legal question has been central to the attorney general’s investigation since April. ### What have DePeña and City Hall said? DePeña has said he was unaware of the audio recordings, according to WBUR. WBUR also reported that the mayor hired a private firm to conduct an independent investigation after the allegations surfaced. (wcvb.com) Lawrence officials have released few details about Thursday’s search. WCVB reported that the city said it was cooperating, while officials did not disclose whether investigators removed documents, electronics or other materials from the office. (wcvb.com) ### Who else has been pulled into the case? William Castro lost his job after the leaked recording surfaced. WCVB reported in April that the city said Castro had been dismissed, and another WCVB report said he had been replaced earlier that month amid the video controversy. (wbur.org) Jeovanny Rodriguez, the president of the Lawrence City Council, told WBUR the recording scandal could be broader than the single leaked clip. (wcvb.com) The New England Police Benevolent Association, which represents Lawrence police unions, has also called for DePeña’s resignation and asked for an independent investigation, according to WBUR and CBS Boston. ### What happens next in the investigation? Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office has confirmed only that an investigation is underway. (wcvb.com) Neither the attorney general’s office nor Lawrence officials have publicly described the scope of Thursday’s warrant or said whether additional charges, seizures or court filings are expected. The next public developments are likely to come through statements from Campbell’s office, future court records tied to the warrants, or additional action by Lawrence officials responding to the City Hall recording investigation. (wbur.org)