Massachusetts
‘I felt called to serve’: Marine severely injured in evacuation of Afghanistan receives Bay State honor
When the planes hit the twin towers on September 11, 2001, Tyler Vargas-Andrews was just three years old.
He couldn’t have known it then, but the events of that day and the subsequent decades-long war which followed would shape his life in profound and lasting ways — far more than the average American or even most veterans.
Vargas-Andrews, 27, was a 23-year-old U.S. Marine sergeant when he became one of the last U.S. casualties of the nearly 20 year war in Afghanistan. And on Thursday, he was honored by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes with their 2025 Daniel H. Petithory Award, named for the first soldier from the Bay State to die during the war.
The first and the last
Sgt. 1st Class Petithory was killed by friendly fire in early December of 2001, and was among the very first casualties of Operation Enduring Freedom. The bomb that took Petithory and two other U.S. service members also injured the future President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.
At the time, Vargas Andrews was a toddler and too young to know his country was at war.
Even though he didn’t come from a military family, Vargas-Andrews said that he knew he wanted to serve his country from a young age. He went to Vanden High School, a Fairfield, California, a district also attended by the children of service members stationed at nearby Travis Air Force Base, until the 10th grade.
It was there, he told the Herald, that he saw what service meant, with “one if not both” of his friends’ parents deployed repeatedly as the Global War on Terror entered a second decade.
With the conflict building through his entire childhood, the desire to serve eventually became impossible to ignore.
“I chose a path where I could do the most good for others — I felt called to serve — and I’m grateful to say I did it,” he said.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in August of 2017 and eventually was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, known as “the Professionals.” He was a rifleman, like all Marines, but also a sniper.
According to Congressional records describing his service, he was a “professionally instructed gunmen and radio operator for his sniper team.” According to Vargas-Andrews, he spent his enlistment doing what all Marines try to do in “chasing the legacy of those who came before us.”
It was “almost four years to the day” after his enlistment, he told the Herald, when he was assigned the task of helping to evacuate U.S. personnel, assets, and allies from Afghanistan at Hamid Karzai International Airport, named for the now-former President injured nearly 20 years earlier on the day Petithory died.
Records show he and his team “aided in the evacuation and processing of over 200 United States Nationals at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan and were the primary Ground Reconnaissance and Observation asset throughout Evacuation Operations at Abbey Gate.”
As the evacuation was underway on August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the Abbey Gate. Vargas-Andrews was among the dozens of U.S. troops caught in the blast, which claimed the lives of 13 service members and at least 169 Afghan civilians.
Vargas-Andrews was severely injured. He lost his right arm and left leg, and needed 49 surgeries. He spent months in recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
He wasn’t done there, though.
Vargas-Andrews has spent the time since he was medically retired from military service attempting to help his fellow veterans learn to live with their own wounds, and heal where they can. He’s testified before Congress, become a fitness advocate, and has run in marathons across the country.
Coming full circle
Choosing Vargas-Andrews to receive the Daniel H. Petithory Award this year, according to Dan Magoon, the executive director at Massachusetts Fallen Heroes, was a “no-brainer.”
“Tyler is an amazing, resilient warrior,” Magoon told the Herald. Vargas-Andrews, Magoon said, has dedicated his life post-service to his “brother and sister veterans and gold-star families.”
“And he’s used his experience and the tragedy that he lived through to share that message of resiliency. He has a motto: ‘you are never a victim.’ The way he carries himself and does more for others makes him — not only an exceptional Marine — but an unbelievable human being,” he said.
Vargas-Andrews, in speaking with the Herald ahead of Thursday’s award presentation, was remarkably positive considering his tragic circumstances. It’s not always easy, he explained when asked how he manages to keep his spirits up, but continuing to serve helps a great deal.
“I owe it to my friends who died to try to be happy and live a good life,” he said. “The Marine Corps has shaped me into the man that I am today and it’s given me the people I love most in my life.”
Massachusetts
Massachusetts brothers, ex-cops, convicted of Mass Save bribery scheme lose their federal appeal
A pair of brothers, who are former cops, convicted of a bribery kickback scheme that netted them millions of dollars in Mass Save contracts have lost their appeal.
Christopher and Joseph Ponzo — ex-Stoneham police officers — defrauded a company to obtain tens of millions of dollars of Mass Save funds through paying bribes and kickbacks to company employees.
Mass Save is a state-mandated program that’s funded by surcharges on utility bills — supporting energy-conservation programs and initiatives in Massachusetts.
The Ponzo brothers pleaded guilty to felonies arising from the bribery kickback scheme, and a district judge sentenced both of them to 27 months in federal prison. The judge also ordered Christopher to forfeit $13.2 million, and Joseph to forfeit $3.6 million.
The brothers then appealed the sentences and forfeitures to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit — which has affirmed the punishments across the board.
“How the Ponzos became crooks and what they want from us is kind of a long story,” the appeals court wrote in its ruling.
The brothers paid tens of thousands of dollars in cash bribes, kickbacks, and other in-kind benefits — including a John Deere tractor, a computer, home bathroom fixtures and free electrical work — to a company’s employees in exchange for the employees’ help in getting the brothers millions of dollars in Mass Save contracts.
Christopher owned CAP Electric, Inc., a business specializing in energy-conservation work. In 2013, he began bribing people at CLEAResult, a firm that picked and oversaw contractors on Mass Save projects.
He later pulled Joseph into the scheme, with Christopher and CLEAResult employee Eric Darlington helping Joseph set up an air-sealing shell company called Air Tight Solutions, LLC as a Mass Save contractor.
Doing next to no work for the company and without telling CLEAResult, Joseph subcontracted the air-sealing projects to Chinasa Construction Services, Inc., and falsely claimed Chinasa employees were Air Tight employees. The Ponzos even created fake email addresses for the Chinasa staffers to make it look like they worked at Air Tight.
To cover his share of the payola, Joseph sent money from Air Tight to Christopher and CAP Electric and labeled it “subcontractor” business expenses. Christopher then bought off CLEAResult employees.
From 2013 to 2017, he gave Darlington $1,000 cash every week and bought him expensive things like an Apple MacBook, a John Deere tractor, bathroom fixtures, and outdoor lights.
And after CLEAResult fired Darlington in 2017, the brothers began bribing CLEAResult employee Peter Marra — sending him cash and gift cards for special favors like getting heads-ups on inspections and audits.
All told, CAP Electric took in about $36 million from CLEAResult, and Air Tight received about $7.4 million.
During the course of the bribery-kickback scheme, Joseph aided in the filing of false tax returns by claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in false business deductions.
To disguise personal expenses as business deductions, Joseph used his company credit card to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases at Home Depot, Lowes and Staples, claiming to his tax preparers that charges at those establishments were business-related.
In reality, he used the company credit card at those stores to purchase gift cards that he and his spouse then used to make thousands of dollars in personal expenditures.
“Life was good for the millionaire brothers,” the appeals court wrote. “But the government eventually caught on. And arrests, indictments, guilty pleas, sentencings, and forfeitures followed.”
The brothers in their appeal were attacking the sentences and forfeitures from many angles.
“Broadly speaking, the Ponzos argue (either individually or collectively) that the judge procedurally erred — first by miscalculating the tax loss attributable to Joe in setting the base-offense level for his tax crimes, then by misapplying guidelines enhancements to their sentences, and finally by misstating how much money they made from their misdoings,” the appeals court wrote. “But none of their arguments work.”
“Chris claims… that ‘everyone affected by’ his crimes ‘was enriched’ by his work (or to use his alternative phrasing, no one suffered ‘financial loss’) — especially ‘CLEAResult, the supposed victim.’ But… his crimes corrupted the Mass Save program in at least three ways: by damaging the utilities’ confidence in the companies approving and overseeing the projects; by corroding CLEAResult’s faith in its workers; and by eroding the public’s trust in the program — points the government makes in its brief without any denial from Chris in his reply brief,” the court added.
Massachusetts law requires utility companies to collect an energy efficiency surcharge on all Massachusetts energy consumers. These funds, which amount to hundreds of millions of dollars each year, are to be disbursed by the utility companies to fund energy efficiency programs and initiatives in Massachusetts.
Under the Mass Save program, the utility companies select lead vendors to approve and select contractors to perform energy improvement work for residential customers.
Massachusetts
UConn Final Four run could trigger a $50M furniture giveaway for Massachusetts-based Jordan’s Furniture
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More than four decades ago, Eliot Tatelman worked with his father at a New England furniture store. He likely never expected that, years later, a bold bet tied to the 2007 World Series run by the Boston Red Sox would land him on a championship float alongside the franchise’s biggest stars.
As the parade wound through Boston’s streets, some attendees held signs that said “Thanks for the free furniture,” a nod to the retailer’s promotion.
Now, Tatelman’s Jordan’s Furniture is revisiting the idea with a similar promotion, betting on how far UConn’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will advance in this year’s NCAA Division I tournaments.
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Braylon Mullins (24) of the UConn Huskies celebrates after shooting the game-winning 3-point basket during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena March 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
The retailer promised refunds totaling up to roughly $50 million if both Huskies teams reach — and then lose — their respective national title games. Eligible furniture must have been purchased from Jordan’s Furniture between Jan. 20 and March 1, according to the company’s website.
2026 NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS REVEALED
Tatelman served as the furniture retailer’s CEO, but the family-run business’s day-to-day operations continue to be overseen by his children.
The UConn women’s team faces South Carolina Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Phoenix, while the men’s team meets Illinois Saturday in Indianapolis.
The UConn Huskies are awarded the Fort Worth Regional trophy after their win against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Dickies Arena March 29, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Chris Jones/Imagn Images)
“We have insurance,” Tatelman told USA Today Sports. “We want them to win.”
There are two Jordan’s Furniture locations in Storrs, Connecticut.
Braylon Mullins (24) celebrates with Jayden Ross (23) and Malachi Smith (0) of the UConn Huskies after Mullins shot the game-winning 3-point basket during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena March 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Tatelman reflected on the Red Sox promotion, recalling the bold offer that helped define the campaign.
“We said, ‘Come into Jordan’s and buy a sofa, a bed, a mattress, a dining room table,’” he said. “And if the Red Sox win the World Series, it’ll all be free.’”
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The Red Sox’s four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series ended up costing the furniture company roughly $35 million. Tatelman said he “bought insurance for it.”
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