Ex-Chelsea Housing Chief Faces New Charges

Imprisoned former Chelsea Housing Authority Director Michael McLaughlin was indicted again on Tuesday, this time by a federal grand jury for conspiring with two other accomplices to rig the inspection process of federally funded housing units in Chelsea.

The grand jury also indicted James Fitzpatrick, 63, of Acton, and Bernard Morosco, 50, of Utica, N.Y. for impeding the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s assessments of the public housing units maintained by the Chelsea Housing Authority.

Fitzpatrick is the Chelsea Housing Authority’s former assistant director for modernization and capital planning, while Morosco was hired as an outside consultant to help prepare for the inspections.

The indictment detailed Tuesday by U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz alleges that from 2006 through November 2011 Morosco had access to a secure database that he used to tip off McLaughlin and Fitzpatrick which units would be randomly inspected by HUD. McLaughlin would then direct “SWAT” teams of CHA employees to make repairs in those units.

The charges against all three men carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

McLaughlin is currently serving a three-year sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania.