Is the Boston Globe finally ready to engage on the matter of the proposed Middleborough casino? Sally Jacobs today weighs in with a 2,600-word overview that focuses on the dispute between disgraced former tribal chairman Glenn Marshall and a dissident group led by Amelia Bingham and her son, Steven Bingham.
Jacobs misses a few key points. Marshall’s handpicked successor, Shawn Hendricks, appears nowhere in the story. And she reports Marshall’s age as being 59. That’s not a small error, since his true age, 57, was a key to reports by Cape Cod Today and the Cape Cod Times that Marshall was in high school in the spring of 1968, not fighting in Vietnam, as he had claimed.
But all is forgiven, because Jacobs reports one of the most startling developments to date — that when a Globe reporter (presumably Jacobs) pressed Marshall about his background recently, he responded that people could die if she continued her line of questioning:
Marshall also angrily fended off questions about his job history, telling a reporter to “back off.” He was, at that point, still offering up a false account of his employment history including his claim to have once worked as an undercover officer. And his manner spoke to how he had succeeded in his deception for so long: He raised his voice and sought to intimidate.
“I have people that worked with me that are dead,” Marshall declared, “that died because of people like you asking questions like that.”
Very, very strange. (Note: At first blush, I read it to mean that Marshall was making Jacobs an offer she couldn’t refuse, as the Corleone family memorably put it. But after reading Steve’s comment, I’m not so sure, and I’ve rewritten this post.)
Anyway, surely Globe editors are beginning to realize that the casino story is a playground for journalists. Jacobs’ contribution should be just the beginning.
In other developments:
- At Cape Cod Today, Peter Kenney continues to follow the money. It’s complicated, but it appears that tribal funds may have been used to buy a $675,000 horse farm, and that ownership of the farm was never transferred to the tribe.
- My latest commentary for The Guardian offers an overview of what has unfolded to date, and of how Marshall’s downfall may save Middleborough officials from their own greed and naïveté.
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Steve
That doesn’t sound like a death threat to me, Dan. It sounds more like an appeal for secrecy to ensure the safety of other under-cover operatives.Of course, it’s difficult to judge these things when you’re not the person to whom the statement is being made.
Dan Kennedy
Steve: Your interpretation hadn’t even occurred to me, but it’s plausible. I want to be cautious about this, so, as you’ll see, I’ve rewritten the post and the headline.
Rick in Duxbury
If someone could just enlist the services of a decent CPA and/or attorney, you would have bit more light and a bit less heat here. (Case law, MGL, US Code, etc.) Boston happens to be crawling with forensic accountants who would love to make their bones on this one. Paging Walter Robinson!
Don (no longer) Fluffy
Gracious, you seem to be laboring on Labor Day weekend. Didn’t you even get out to see the Red Sox?
Anonymous
So, Glenn Marshall is either a thug or a nut, depending on which explanation you believe.
mike_b1
While it sounds like Marshall is the last person I’d want as a frontman for my enterprise, I would note that many teens lied about their ages in order to join the army, and it is possible he was among them. If that were the case, it renders moot the question of his age.
Anonymous
Mike, you need to read the stories. School officials and a high school yearbook confirm he graduated in 1968 – period. So he didn’t enlist early. And the Marines released his exact tour of duty in Vietnam – four months in 1969 – 18 months after he claimed to have been at the battle of Khe Sanh. Maybe you’ve been on vacation, but this is all well-documented. Glenn Marshall is a liar, plain and simple.
mike_b1
I’m not interested enough in it to read the stories. However, either way he’d be a liar. Think about it.
Dan Kennedy
Mike: I don’t think you should have to follow every link in order to comment, but I do think you owe it to all of us to have at least read what I’ve written about it here. And I have written that Marshall was in high school when he claimed to be fighting at Khe Sanh. I hope you’ll think about that.
mike_b1
That would take all the fun of it, now, wouldn’t it?After all, you apparently didn’t have to take a college level stats class in order to comment on Bronson Arroyo’s worth.And you could always choose not to publish my comment. That’s happened a few times, although with Blogger it’s hard to know exactly what is to blame.
Dan Kennedy
Mike: I am almost certain that I’ve never killed one of your comments.
Anonymous
Stephanie,Several questions/points come to mind: 1. Scott Ferson’s contradictions…about gaming, licensing, the honesty…ok, so everyone involved in the current tribal council should be investigated – Scott Ferson, however, is a spokesperson…where does his salary come from? How does the tribe afford to retain such high priced resources.2. A lot of folks are questioning the Bingham’s motives…which are all about the tribe and their overall well being and have never been selfish…The Binghams have continuously tried to come to the aid of the city, state and Government, lawyers but have either been shunned…or ignored…per Scott Ferson in a Boston Globe article…where conducting nothing more than a “fishing expedition”…as we have quickly seen is not the case. (that started off enthusiastically about the case, but suddenly changed thier course to the detriment of the Binghams), YES, Massachusetts lawyers (2006)…check out the Binghams, latest suit that was dismissed by Judge Connon (sp?), the first lawyers that were on the case, but quit suddenly…they were bought off…because of the “deeper ties”, enter William McDermott and Federick Grosser who’s step mother Janet Campbell and his father owns the Inn at the Sound in Hyannis…a very swank B&B, that runs a pretty penny a night…look at the records for the property…the business ties of the Grosser’s connect the relationship, but not only that…it connects the obvious political and monetary ties to the cape.. deep pockets can silence?!3. What about the treasurer (Desiree Hendricks Moreno, intimate relationship with Herbert Strathers – conflict of interest), not to mention, her vehement denial to show her lineage.4. What about the willowood realty trust, located at 103 Willowwood Street, Dorchester, why is Glen Marshall and Desiree Hendricks listed on this property… which is some shady three family house in Dorchester.to verify…contact Steven Bingham.a lot of rambling, but …. soooo much to say…it goes so much deeper than Glenn Marshall, what about the IRS…Amelia Bingham, met with representatives of the IRS last November, but they did nothing…….not to mention other members of the state Government.
Anonymous
oops, I meant Steve….
Anonymous
Number File Date Type Desc. # Pgs. Book/Page Consideration 145049 10/31/2005 TRUST CERT – C 184 S 35 1 38367/106 0.00 No Indexed Property for this Instrument Number Grantor HENDRICKS DESIREE MARSHALL GLENN WILLOWWOOD REALTY TRUST 103 Grantee http://www.masslandrecords.com/malr/controller?commandflag=getDetails&optflag=DetailsCommand&county=ma025&userid=null&userCategory=7&nameid=6287252&ptrno=5307953&instrumentnumber=145049&fileDate=10/31/2005&volume=38367&page=106&partytype=&name=WILLOWWOOD%2BREALTY%2BTRUST%2B103&officeid=70&fromdate=01/02/1979&todate=09/03/2007&lastname=WILLOWWOOD%20REALTY%20TRUST%20103&subdetail=yes
ben
I just want community leaders both in the media and in local and state government to come out and state that the whole tie between Native Americans and these casinos is rubbish. They are financially manipulated fronts for gaming operations who somehow work their way around laws restricting their take (the gaming companies). You can reduce their impact one of two ways — legalize gambling (so no one casino group benefits and most lose interest with the pie split so many ways) or fight gambling.
Neil
ben, Racist!Just kidding. Well said, I agree with you completely.
CFO Directors
Recently I posted a cost/benefit analysis of a Mass casino. The cost of these facilites far outweigh the benefits. I’m aghast that we’re even considering it.
Steve
cfo – Your analysis seems a bit simplistic, but that’s not necessarily bad – it’s easy to digest and is fairly plausible.Off the top of my head, though, there are 2 things it leaves out: 1) a lot of the dollars per pathological gambler are already being lost to easily accessible casinos out of state with no benefit to Massachusetts (which argues against your anti-casino stance); and2) at least some of the dollars per pathological gambler are already being lost to the existing lottery, which benefits the state more per dollar than a wager in a casino would (which argues in favor of your anti-casino stance).These factors are large enough to change your analysis significantly.