‘Watching their backs’
Troopers working ‘every day’ under supervision of boss they are suing
The two state police officers at the center of the Troopergate scandal are “watching their backs” as they patrol under the superior officers they are suing in what their union chief and lawyer are both calling “ludicrous” working conditions.
“Having to be subjected to this is unbelievable,” said Dana Pullman, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts. “It’s complete stress. It’s making these guys very nervous and uncomfortable.”
Troopers Ryan Sceviour, 29, and Ali Rei, 32, are suing the department in federal court after being told to alter records of the drunken driving arrest of a judge’s daughter who they wrote admitted to trading sex for heroin.
The troopers remain on the job, but wary, their attorney Leon Kesten said.
“They’re out there working every day under the supervision of one of the defendants they are suing — and they are watching their backs,” Kesten said. “They are grateful they have received such generous support from the public and their union.”
Fellow troopers, Pullman said, “believe in them,” but he’s also worried about how commanding officers will react. “They are worried about it . ... It’s crazy not to think that’s not the case. I have their back, but I can’t believe this is going on,” Pullman added. “Nobody seems to get these are serious charges.”
The two troopers are suing former state police Col. Richard McKeon, Maj. Susan Anderson and other unnamed defendants in the department and elsewhere.
Lt. Col. Daniel Risteen is also named in the lawsuit as being a superior officer, along with Anderson, who forced the rewrite of the Oct. 16 arrest of Alli Bibaud, the daughter of Dudley District Court Judge Timothy Bibaud.
The troopers were told to rid the records of any link to the judge, to Alli Bibaud trading sex for heroin or for her offering sex for leniency, the lawsuit states.
The 30-year-old pleaded guilty to drunken driving last week and is now in a treatment center in Worcester, court records state. She was pulled over after crashing her car on Interstate 190 in Worcester, records state. A “heroin kit” was found in the car, police reported, that contained a dozen hypodermic needles, a metal spoon and empty baggies.
Alli Bibaud had fought with her boyfriend and crashed the car because he had used the last of the heroin, the report states.
McKeon, who retired after admitting fault in the case, has left the force. Anderson and Risteen remain on the job and in charge.
“No duties or positions” of those linked to the case have changed, state police spokesman David Procopio said last night.
Pullman is calling on new state police Col. Kerry Gilpin to “rectify the situation immediately.” He wants a duty status hearing held to address why Anderson and Risteen are not put on leave. Yesterday was Gilpin’s first full day on the job.
“The bottom line is, why is there this double standard?” Pullman added, saying troopers have been sent home with and without pay pending the outcome of an investigation many times before.
Attorney General Maura Healey, who has declined comment, is also conducting a review.
Gilpin is also doing her own probe. Procopio said, “Those named in the lawsuits are professional, ethical, and experienced police supervisors (who) will answer whatever questions are asked of them.”
Pullman said the entire mess smacks of a cover-up and is an insult to the force.
“It’s ludicrous,” he said. “This will get worse before it gets better.”
‘Having to be subjected to this is unbelieveable . ... It’s making these guys very nervous and uncomfortable.’ — DANA PULLMAN president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts