Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
A New York-based former American Airlines mechanic who was facing financial troubles before being convicted of conspiracy to traffic cocaine has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison in a plot where he hid bricks of the drug under a passenger plane cockpit, according to federal authorities.
Customs agents caught Paul Belloisi, a 56-year-old Smithtown resident, red-handed in 2020 after they discovered more than 25 pounds of the drug and swapped it out with a fake parcel covered in a substance that would later glow under black light, according to federal investigators. Court records show he had filed for bankruptcy three years earlier.
Homeland Security Investigations said in a statement that federal agents later staked out the plane and watched Belloisi head into the compartment where the fake drugs were hidden with an empty tool bag and a jacket with cutouts large enough to conceal the bricks.
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS USE SECURITY PRIVILEGES TO SMUGGLE MILLIONS IN DRUG MONEY OUT OF US: FEDERAL PROSECUTORS
Former American Airlines mechanic Paul Belloisi received a nine-year sentence in federal prison for his role in trafficking cocaine into the United States at John F. Kennedy International Airport. (Justice Department)
They shined the black light on his gloves and saw the tell-tale glow.
Federal authorities dubbed him a “corrupt inside man” and said the sentence should serve as a warning to other workers who intend to abuse their positions.
“Paul Belloisi put his personal gain before the safety of the aviation industry by abusing his position to participate in a scheme to import over 25 pounds of cocaine into the U.S., repeatedly storing smuggled narcotics within sensitive areas of passenger airplanes,” HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Darren McCormack said in a statement. “His demise should send a message to anyone attempting to exploit the aviation industry: HSI New York and our law enforcement partners are committed to maintain the safety of the U.S. domestic and international transportation infrastructure.”
POKER PLAYER ROBBED OF $250K IN GUNPOINT STICKUP OUTSIDE NYC AIRPORT HOTEL
Homeland Security Investigations says the holes in the lining of Belloisi’s jacket were made to help him hide cocaine. (Justice Department)
American Airlines, which has not been accused of wrongdoing in the smuggling case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the federal criminal complaint, a flight arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport from Jamaica on Feb. 4, 2020.
A Boeing 777 of American Airlines arrives from Milan at JFK International Airport in New York on Feb. 7, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Two Customs and Border Protection agents inspected the plane and found 10 bricks of cocaine hidden in a blanket in a compartment under the cockpit.
They swapped it out with fake bricks and a transponder that would alert them to movement in the compartment. HSI agents also assisted in visual surveillance from a distance.
WOMAN FOUND DEAD IN O’HARE AIRPORT BAGGAGE MACHINERY DIED OF SUICIDE: POLICE
Federal authorities said they found Belloisi with this empty tool bag after he entered a jet compartment where they recovered more than 25 pounds of cocaine. (Justice Department)
Hours went by with no movement, but about 20 minutes before the plane’s scheduled departure, Belloisi showed up and entered the compartment, according to the complaint. Five seconds later, he tripped the transponder.
Judge Dora Irizarry handed down three sentences of 108 months to run concurrently for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine and importing cocaine.
Read the full article from Here
Sports
When reminiscing about sports moments and personalities of days gone by, the familiar anecdotes are often a joy to hear again and again.
Even better, though, is when there are fresh new stories to be told by those who were there.
The new YouTube channel Front Row to Boston Sports offers both familiar tales and ones you may not have heard before, as told by four of the most connected journalists and best storytellers in the modern annals of sports in this region.
Legendary former sports anchors Mike Lynch (Channel 5) and Bob Lobel (Channel 4), along with Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy and former Globe columnist Bob Ryan, have teamed up to share the funniest, most heartfelt, and illuminating tales from their storied careers, from press row and the locker room.
The project is the brainchild of Peter Brown, a former news director at Channel 4, where he spent 22 years before moving on to an accomplished career in public affairs and communications.
“You come from a news background, you’re always thinking about what’s the best way to tell a story,” he said. “What better story is there to tell than those about Boston sports? Everyone who is from here or has lived here is in some degree a fan. I thought a look back at some great moments and some behind-the-scenes details that only the most plugged-in reporters would know would be a fun thing to do.”
So Brown reached out to Alan Miller, a former sports producer at Channel 4 who worked with Brown during the local news heyday in the 1980-90s. Miller, who later worked at the Globe and in the Channel 7 newsroom before retiring in May 2024, has long been one of the most well-liked figures in the Boston sports media landscape, someone who knows everyone and whose word is as good as a signature on the dotted line.
Miller thought it was a super idea, and reached out to his close friend Lobel, along with Lynch, Shaughnessy, and Ryan. They all said yes immediately.
“We basically said, just tell us your best stories,” said Miller. “We wanted the stories that maybe you couldn’t tell on TV or in the newspaper, but the ones you might have told your buddies at the bar. The ones about what people are really like and what gets said behind the scenes. The ones about relationships. These were the four perfect guys to tell those.”
Currently, there are eight clips posted on the channel, ranging in length from just longer than three minutes (Ryan talking about his top five all-time Celtics) to 13 minutes (Shaughnessy sharing an assortment of Terry Francona stories). One of Lobel’s clips includes an emotional discussion of Ted Williams, while Lynch is especially insightful talking about Bill Belichick’s candor off camera during their old Bellistrator segments.
Brown and Miller plan to sprinkle out a few new clips each week. Since the project has been in the works for approximately a year, they were able to build up a catalogue of 30 clips before launch.
Miller said there’s another reason that everyone involved wanted to be part of the project — the fear that institutional knowledge about Boston sports isn’t what it used to be because of the changing media landscape.
“When I was at Channel 7, John Havlicek died, and I think there were about three people in the newsroom who knew how John Havlicek was,” he said. “It’s not their fault, a lot of them are 20-something kids and half of them are from out of town.
“But there can be a real lack of knowledge about the past. And Boston sports, as you know, has an amazing past. You’d like the legacy and the memories to stay alive.”
It’s no surprise that Patriots television ratings have risen this season corresponding with the team’s return to prominence.
But even if the rise in ratings is logical, some of the heights that they are reaching — or returning to, a half-dozen years after Tom Brady’s final season in New England — are remarkable.
Take last Sunday’s 35-31 loss to the Bills, which aired at 1 p.m. on CBS as a regional broadcast. The game had a 31.4 household rating and 78 share in Boston.
That household rating — the percentage of households in a defined area tuned in to a program at a given time — is the highest for any Patriots game on any network since the regular season finale against the Dolphins in 2021. That also happens to be the last season the Patriots made the playoffs.
The 78 share — the percentage of households with television in use — is reminiscent of the viewership the Patriots enjoyed during the dynasty. As noted here previously, the Patriots averaged a 35.3 household rating and 66 share in 2018, their most recent Super Bowl-winning season.
Nine of the Patriots’ 14 games have aired on CBS this season. Those broadcasts have averaged a 25.7 household rating and 73 share, up 35 percent from last year (19.0/59) through the same span.
Overall last Sunday, the 1 p.m. slot — which also included the Chargers-Chiefs matchup — was a massive success for CBS, averaging 18.9 million viewers across the games. That made it the most-watched regional window on any network in 37 years.
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
A woman was rushed to the hospital after being seriously hurt in a fire Saturday in Rocky Hill.
This all unfolded during the late morning hours at a home on Main Street.
Fire officials say they had to rescue the woman from the home and her injuries are considered life threatening.
Hoarding conditions did a play a factor in the fire, according to the fire department.
No other injuries were reported. Further details pertaining to the fire weren’t immediately available.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Addy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
How much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
Elementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
Frigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
The Game Awards are losing their luster
Nature: Snow in South Dakota
Family clarifies why they believe missing New Mexico man is dead
Nebraska lands commitment from DL Jayden Travers adding to early Top 5 recruiting class