Anthony Dichio, the politically connected US marshal for Massachusetts since 2002, has been dismissed by the White House, after the Justice Department’s inspector general recommended that he be disciplined for repeatedly failing to work full work weeks and for misusing his official vehicle, reports the Boston Globe. Dichio, 45, cleaned out his office Saturday at the federal courthouse in Boston. In a statement he said, ”I respect the president’s decision, and thank him for giving me the opportunity to have served as US marshal.”
Dichio received word that he had been removed from the $130,300-a-year job in a telephone call late Friday afternoon from the White House office of legal counsel. Dichio was dismissed 10 months after the Globe published a story citing the observations of two reporters that Dichio was often not at his office. That article prompted the Marshals Service to request an investigation by the office of the Justice Department’s inspector general. The report was completed in Marc, but was not released until Wednesday, in response to a request by the Globe under the Freedom of Information Act. The 35-page report found that Dichio had violated federal law by not putting in a full 40-hour workweek and by using his government vehicle for personal errands.
Link: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/28/white_house_dismisses_marshal_for_w