EVERETT, Mass. (AP) — For years, the mayor of a Boston suburb dreaded Wednesdays. That was the day when a local weekly would publish shocking allegations that he was on the take, sexually harassing women or under investigation by the FBI.
Friends trashed Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria on Facebook over what the Everett Leader Herald printed. His father threatened to disown him — over stories the mayor knew were lies.
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Two women walk past the Everett Leader Herald News Gazette newspaper, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Everett, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria embraces resident Pamela Mavilio while visiting a senior luncheon following a bingo game at the Connolly Center, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Everett. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria talks with guests while visiting a senior luncheon following a bingo game at the Connolly Center, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Everett. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria, listens to a reporter's question during an interview at his attorney's office, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Attorney Jeffrey S. Robbins, who is with the firm representing Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria, flips through a folder containing stories by the Everett Leader Herald News Gazette newspaper, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A selection of Everett Leader Herald News Gazette newspaper stories are displayed at the law firm representing Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria smiles while visiting guests at a senior luncheon following a bingo game at the Connolly Center, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Everett. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
“They labeled me as a ‘Kickback Carlo.’ Accusations that I was settling all kinds of sexual harassment lawsuits, that I put a knife to a girl’s throat and asked for sexual favors,” DeMaria said. “It was awful. It was disgusting.”
Almost everything the paper wrote about DeMaria turned out to be fake, enabling him to win a $1.1 million settlement in December that finally shut down the nearly 140-year-old paper.
Such defamation victories are exceedingly rare under the Supreme Court’s “actual malice” standard for public figures. That willing disregard for the truth became abundantly evident when the paper's editor swore in court to tell the truth, and admitted to fabricating story after story in an unrelenting smear campaign.
But DeMaria hardly had time to celebrate. Now preparing for his seventh mayoral campaign, he's been accused of padding his salary with bonus payments — an issue the paper covered four years ago — and this time, the state of Massachusetts is pressing the City Council to take action.
Favoring sharp suits and slicked-back hair, DeMaria was schooled in a style of politics based on personal connections with fellow residents in the working-class town of about 49,000 across the Mystic River from Boston. As mayor in 2007, he's been praised for his leadership in improving infrastructure. Out-of-towners can now look beyond the Monsanto and Exxon Mobil facilities as they come to a glitzy casino and soon, possibly, a professional soccer stadium.
Everett voters reelected DeMaria by landslides, and his annual compensation grew to $232,700, including a car allowance and a “longevity bonus,” approaching the $250,000 salary of Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston, a city nearly 14 times larger.
Then, after a brutal 2021 campaign, he held onto office by just over 200 votes.
Matthew Philbin had bought the Leader Herald in 2017 and hired a Boston-area reporter Joshua Resnek, to turn it into an attack machine, court records show. DeMaria believes Philbin was angry at him after he opposed his boarding house licenses as a councilman and then rejected giving him a city insurance contract after he became mayor.
Resnek invented a City Hall insider he called the “Blue Suit” and in article after article, made up conversations accusing “Kickback Carlo” of extorting the city clerk in a land deal, shaking down people for contributions and sexually assaulting women.
In an emotional press conference to announce his court victory, DeMaria stood with his wife and expressed vindication.
“The size and scope of this settlement — both in terms of the amount that the defendants have agreed to pay and in their agreement to shut down their newspaper — is a reflection of just how egregious their conduct was, and of the volume of their admissions of their misconduct,” DeMaria said.
Neither Philbin, Resnek nor their lawyers responded to repeated requests for comment, but the paper’s final edition reported that “the settlement leaves all parties satisfied that an agreeable arrangement was reached, making the necessity of a trial a moot point.”
Some residents grumbled about the loss of local news coverage.
“We need all kinds of voices,” said Everett homeowner Peggy Serino, a regular at council meetings. “Just because the administration didn’t agree with something doesn’t mean you shut it down.”
Someone complained to the state Office of the Inspector General about the bonus payments in 2022, after the Leader Herald suggested they were illegal and quoted a mayoral challenger who called them “greedy.” DeMaria turned down his 2022 payment of $40,000, and the council limited his future payments to what other city workers get — about $1,700 a year.
After a lengthy investigation, the Inspector General concluded in February that DeMaria colluded with his finance officer and budget director to retroactively get $180,000 from 2016 to 2021, hiding the payments within other line-items. The IG also concluded that DeMaria may have violated state ethics law by participating in the drafting and approval of the ordinance that padded his pay.
The City Council has turned on him since the report came out. It can't fire him, but councilors demanded repayment and launched an audit into nearly a decade's worth of payments to him. They also requested details they could bring to the state ethics commission, which can fine an official up to $10,000 per violation and refer evidence of any crimes to prosecutors.
DeMaria insists he never “engaged in concealment” and that law enforcement has not contacted him. It's all just small-town politics, he said.
“Those who have falsely accused me over the years are the ones who are guilty of the real wrongdoing,” he said. “I will continue to fight to protect my family, but also to undo the harm that has been done to the reputation of Everett and its residents by these unnecessary and unfounded attacks.”
DeMaria didn't attend a special meeting packed with city employees where his lawyer and his daughter came to defend him. Launching his reelection campaign weeks later, he asked supporters to withhold judgment until all the facts come out.
Not everyone is willing to wait. The City Council approved a no-confidence vote and ended future longevity payments for him.
“This is a sad day for our community,” City Councilor Peter Pietrantonio said. “These are serious facts against the mayor and his administration ... To me, it’s appalling.”
Councilor at Large Guerline Alcy Jabouin asked the many city workers supporting DeMaria to look beyond their allegiances.
“Think about your property taxes. Think about the school that isn’t getting enough money. Think about your grandmother, your grandfather that cannot afford to pay for their medication,” Jabouin said.
Two women walk past the Everett Leader Herald News Gazette newspaper, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Everett, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria embraces resident Pamela Mavilio while visiting a senior luncheon following a bingo game at the Connolly Center, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Everett. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria talks with guests while visiting a senior luncheon following a bingo game at the Connolly Center, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Everett. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria, listens to a reporter's question during an interview at his attorney's office, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Attorney Jeffrey S. Robbins, who is with the firm representing Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria, flips through a folder containing stories by the Everett Leader Herald News Gazette newspaper, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A selection of Everett Leader Herald News Gazette newspaper stories are displayed at the law firm representing Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Friday Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Everett, Mass. Mayor Carlo DeMaria smiles while visiting guests at a senior luncheon following a bingo game at the Connolly Center, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Everett. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Memorials were taking place Thursday for a merengue star and others killed when a cement roof collapsed at a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic, as the number of dead surged to 221 and crews searched for more bodies under the rubble.
Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s National Theater, where the body of Rubby Pérez lay inside a closed coffin. Pérez had been performing on stage at the Jet Set club early Tuesday when the roof fell in.
President Luis Abinader and first lady Raquel Arbaje arrived at the theater and stood beside Pérez's coffin for several minutes. Some mourners doubled over in tears as a recording of Pérez singing the national anthem was played. Renowned Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra was among those gathered to pay their respects.
Pérez turned to music after a car accident left him unable to pursue a dream of becoming a professional baseball player. He was known for hits including “Volveré," which he sang as a member of Wilfrido Vargas's orchestra, and “Buscando tus besos" as a solo artist.
Blocks away from his memorial, crews continued the grim hunt for victims and survivors. No one has been found alive since Tuesday afternoon.
“We’ve practically combed through ground zero,” said Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Center of Emergency Operations, adding that crews were focusing on one last small area of rubble.
Later Thursday, Méndez broke down while addressing reporters.
“Thank you, God, because today we accomplished the most difficult task I’ve had in 20 years,” he said, moving the microphone away from his face as he cried. Other officials patted him on the back as he continued, “Please forgive me,” before passing the microphone to an army official.
Officials said 189 people have been rescued alive from the rubble. More than 200 were injured, with 24 of them still hospitalized, including eight in critical condition.
“If the trauma is too great, there’s not a lot of time” left to save patients in that condition, said Health Minister Víctor Atallah.
He and other doctors said some of the injured suffered fractures to the skull, femur and pelvis. The legendary club in Santo Domingo was packed with musicians, professional athletes and government officials when dust began falling from the ceiling and into people’s drinks early Tuesday. Minutes later, the roof collapsed.
Since then, dozens of people have been anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones, growing frustrated with the drip-drip of information provided by hospitals and the country’s forensic institute.
At least 146 bodies have been identified, authorities said Thursday.
María Luisa Taveras told TV station Noticias SIN that she was looking for her sister.
“We have gone everywhere they have told us,” she said, her voice breaking.
Taveras said the family has spread out, with a relative stationed at each hospital and at the National Institute of Forensic Pathology. Dozens of people waited at the institute on Thursday, wearing face masks and complaining about the smell as they demanded the release of their loved ones' bodies.
“The odor is unbearable,” said Wendy Sosa, who has been waiting since Wednesday morning for the body of her cousin, 61-year-old Nilka Curiel González. Sosa told The Associated Press by phone that the situation was “chaotic,” and that officials had set up a refrigerated container to handle the volume of bodies being delivered.
She wept as she described her cousin as gracious and authentic. “Very empathetic," Sosa said. "She was a very helpful person.”
Victims identified so far include former MLB players Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera; and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi whose brother is seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz.
Dotel will be buried Thursday in Santo Domingo. Hundreds of people attended his wake on Wednesday, including Hall of Famer David Ortiz, formerly of the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz said the number of people who attended Dotel’s wake spoke volumes.
“He was a person whom everyone loved,” Ortiz told reporters. “It’s very hard, very hard, truly.”
Also killed was a retired United Nations official; saxophonist Luis Solís, who was playing onstage when the roof fell; New York-based fashion designer Martín Polanco; the son and daughter-in-law of the minister of public works; the brother of the vice minister of the Ministry of Youth; and three employees of Grupo Popular, a financial services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife.
More than 20 victims came from Haina, Rubby Pérez's hometown, just southwest of Santo Domingo.
On Thursday, the governor held a communal wake, setting up 10 stands for coffins beneath a banner that read: “Haina bids farewell to her beloved children with immense sorrow.”
Among the mourners was Juancho Guillén, whose brother, sister and brother-in-law died at Jet Set.
“This family is in shock, is devastated. We’re practically dead too,” he told Noticias SIN, adding that his wife also died three months ago.
Minutes after the roof collapsed, the 911 system received more than 100 calls, many of those made by people buried under the rubble, said Randolfo Rijo Gómez, the system's director.
He noted that police arrived at the scene in 90 seconds, followed minutes later by first response units. In less than half an hour, 25 soldiers, seven fire brigades and 77 ambulances were activated, he said.
Prosecutors also arrived at the scene. It is still unclear what caused the roof to collapse or when the building was last inspected. The government said late Wednesday that once the recovery phase ends, it will launch a thorough investigation.
The club issued a statement saying it is cooperating with authorities. A spokesperson for the family that owns the club told The Associated Press that she passed along questions about potential inspections.
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, center right, and his wife Raquel Arbaje Soni speak with the family of Dominican singer Rubby Perez who died in the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub while performing in concert, during the wake at the Eduardo Brito National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Workers prepare a crane on the third day of rescue efforts at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra, left, attends a wake of Rubby Perez, the merengue singer who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub when its roof collapsed, killing more than 200 people, at the National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
An excavator removes concrete at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed three nights before during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Zulinka, center, the daughter of Dominican singer Rubby Perez who died in the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub during his merengue concert, cries during his wake at the Eduardo Brito National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
The hat and sunglasses of Dominican singer Rubby Perez, who died in the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub during his merengue concert, sit on his casket during his wake at the Eduardo Brito National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
An image of victim Nelsy Cruz, governor of Montecristi, is seen at a makeshift vigil for the victims of the Jet Set club roof collapse, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Rescue workers carry the recovered body of a victim who died when the roof collapsed two nights prior at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
Soldiers prepare to assist with security during the rescue effort at Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
A poster of victim Rubby Perez is seen at a makeshift vigil for the victims of the Jet Set club roof collapse in the Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People attend a Mass for the victims of the Jet Set club roof collapse, at St. Elizabeth's Church, Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People attend a Mass for the victims of the Jet Set club roof collapse at St. Elizabeth's Church, Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People pray for their missing relatives outside Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
Rescue workers carry the recovered body of a victim who died when the roof collapsed two nights prior at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
Rescue workers search for bodies at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Rescue workers search for bodies at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Rescue workers carry the recovered body of a victim who died when the roof collapsed two nights prior at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Rescue workers search for bodies at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Rescue workers carry the recovered body of a victim in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025 who died when the roof collapsed two nights prior at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A man sleeps on bottles of water in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in front of the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Rescue workers carry the recovered body of a victim who died when the roof collapsed two nights prior at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
People who spent all night at the site of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025, continue to wait for news of survivors after its roof collapsed two nights prior during a merengue concert. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Rescue workers carry the recovered body of a victim in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025 who died when the roof collapsed two nights prior at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Women cry during the search for survivors at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed two nights prior during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
Family members wait to identify the remains of their loved who died when the roof collapsed at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert, in a parking lot of the National Institute of Forensic Pathology in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, (AP Photo/Marvin Del Cid)
Rescue workers stand next to a recovered body of a victim who died when the roof collapsed two nights prior at the Jet Set nightclub during a merengue concert, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
