WampaGate

Glenn Marshall; There is still much to tell

Mashpee mutany
According to the Cape Cod Times on Sunday, "a possible grass-roots mutiny against disgraced tribal council chairman Glenn Marshall, members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe are being called to an 'emergency meeting' tomorrow night at the Sons of Italy Hall on Route 28 at 7pm. Michelle Fernandes, one of five tribe members shunned by the tribal council in December, said yesterday: 'Our people understand that we have been called to action and plan to follow up with Mr. Marshall's announcement... We're looking to prevent Glenn Marshall from returning to the tribal council.'"In 1967 Jimmy Hoffa stepped down as president of the Teamsters and went to jail for 57 months. In 1971 his sentence was commuted by President Richard Nixon. When Hoffa was released he intended to regain the presidency of the Teamsters Union but discovered that a condition of his release, unknown to him at the time, was that he was to be barred from holding any office in any union for a long time. Before going to prison Hoffa had installed Frank Fitzsimmons as his successor, but Hoffa himself was no longer an officer of the union.

Resigned (for a while) but still Chairman
Maybe Bush will pardon him too 

Glenn Marshall, unlike Hoffa, has not relinquished his post as Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council. He has merely placed his very close friend and associate, Shawn Hendricks, as his surrogate. We are about to discover another of Marshall's hidden attributes: ventriloquism. Marshall is merely hiding, but he has given up none of his well-known control.

The day that Shawn Hendricks has an original thought or makes a decision without Marshall's approval or makes a public statement that did not start as an idea in Glenn Marshall's rather bizarre mind will be the day Cape Cod builds a major ski resort.

The "old media" is still making excuses for Marshal

That explanation came from the Tribe's spokesman, Scott Ferson, a white man from Belmont, Massachusetts who works for the influential law firm/ lobbying company closely associated with Jack Abramoff, a convicted felon and former Washington lobbyist.All of the press flurry yesterday and today about Marshall's lying about his military and war records, about his criminal convictions on cocaine and rape charges, about his fraudulent and successful scheme to have his rape prison sentence reduced from five years to slightly more than three months mentions that he was born in 1949 but has given the year 1947 as his birth year in various records. This of course makes finding his actual criminal record difficult, as a correct date of birth is the pass key into such records. Our own Cape Cod Times has printed the explanation of this incorrect birth year as a "typo."

That explanation came from the Tribe's spokesman, Scott Ferson, a white man from Belmont, Massachusetts who works for the influential law firm/ lobbying company Liberty Square Group of Boston and Washington, D.C. Liberty Square Group has been closely associated with Jack Abramoff, a convicted felon and former Washington lobbyist. According to the Times, Ferson's exact response was, "It was a typo."

"Typo" Marshall knows how to hide a police record

Really? If Glenn Marshall were a member of the American Mafia, an organization known for giving its members odd and sometimes humorous nicknames, he might be known as TYPO. When I visited the Falmouth town clerk's office and asked for their records on Glenn Marshall I was told by the clerk that his birthday was 11-1-48. So, there are three birth dates floating around for the same man; 1947, 1948 and 1949. I had given the  11-1-48 date to people  but the year 1947 also showed up, so that nothing at all could be found for Glenn Marshall, if he was born in either year.

A law enforcement source told me that when 1948 did not work for him he tried both 1947 and 1949...BINGO...1949 was the year he was convicted of rape. Just to be sure I called the Barnstable Town Clerk because, after all, Marshall was born in Hyannis. She confirmed 1949 as his actual birth year. So, Glenn  Marshall or someone acting in his behalf has seen to it that the official record of the town of Falmouth lists the wrong year for his birth. This is a common trick for people who want to make it difficult to identify or research them.

The Little House on Rt 130 and an old threat

Then there was the foreclosure twenty years ago... a little house on Route 130 in Mashpee, near the intersection of 130 and Great Neck Road was being foreclosed. A local auctioneer who was involved in the matter told me that he vividly remembers receiving a telephone call from Glenn Marshall. The auctioneer said that Marshall identified himself and told the auctioneer that he should not remain involved with the foreclosure or auction. There were then and remain today persistent rumors of drug activity at this same house.I asked the auctioneer if he felt that Marshall's call was intended as a threat and he answered, "Absolutely it was." I asked if he had in fact felt threatened and he said, "Absolutely I did. I had known about Glenn Marshall for years."

I first wrote about Glenn Marshall in my blog prior to the special town meeting in Middleboro,  at which the town approved entering into an agreement with the Mashpee Wampanoags for a casino to be built in Middelboro. Scott Ferson, the tribal spokesman, talked with me at length back then.  Now he just sends rude e-mails and refuses to discuss anything substantive. When I read last Saturday's piece in the New London Day about Glenn Marshall,  I knew something did not ring true, so I started to do deep research, including reaching out to some veterans who hunt down those who lie about their military service.

Leopards change their tune, not their spots 

On Monday, August 20 I wrote the first piece questioning Marshall's statements. Let me make it clear that I do not believe anyone has misrepresented Marshall or misstated his past by way of typographical errors; I believe that Glenn Marshall has knowingly and repeatedly lied and that he has done so for decades and that he is still doing so. Marshall is still laying the blame for his errors of judgment on his Vietnam experiences, his four months at DaNang that earned him no medals for valor or injury. Could it have been heat stroke, or perhaps beer poisoning that so traumatized this bear of man? Glenn Marshall cannot erase the written record of the statement made the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Resources in which he said in his own voice, "I am a survivor of the siege of Khe Sanh..."

Throughout this past week I have attempted to establish contact with Marshall. I have left word at the tribal headquarters along with my name and telephone number but he did not call.  I have also spoken briefly with people at the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, but they chose not to call back. And, I left word at both Fox News and the Howie Carr Show. No calls. I called the Cape Cod Times on this story on Tuesday of this week; no more calls from them.

Here is a quote from the Cape Times, today's edition: "There's evidence that Marshall knew his bogus claims were about to be exposed. A petition circulated among tribe members in recent days urged support of the chairman."

What actually happened is:  On Wednesday of this week I bumped into a member of the tribe and his wife at the public access television  studio in South Yarmouth. Up until that meeting we had enjoyed a cordial relationship.I told him what I had discovered about Marshall's military record and rape conviction. This man's response was, "Hey, Glenn's still my man. Look what he has done for the tribe"..."You know, all that was a long time ago; so he embellished his service thing, no big deal. He paid his dues for the rape thing, right? I mean he did his time. Let it go."  Then this fellow showed me the display of his cell phone telephone book; Glenn Marshall was the first name on his list.

He asked me, "Do you want to talk to Glenn? Do you want to meet Glenn? He and I are really good friends, he'll see you if I ask him to." I said, "Yeah, great...love to talk to him, but it has to be here." I said this feeling that a public place and neutral ground would be a wise thing. The answer was "Oh, so now he's got to come to you, right." That was the end of the conversation. My suspicion is that this man told Marshall what was about to happen.

A record of stifling his opponents

During our back-and-forth I mentioned how Marshall had opposed  efforts by Paula Peters to run for election to the tribal council three years ago. Marshall succeeded in having her name removed from the ballot but a write-in campaign by tribal members nearly cost Marshall his own re-election. Marshall's friend said to me, "Oh yeah, well Paula Peters is getting ready to get thrown out of the tribe anyway." There will be another election for seats on the council soon.

The Cape Cod Times  is correct in saying that Marshall knew something was brewing. He knew it on Tuesday morning after my original blog  started being read and discussed. He knew it on Wednesday after I had told Scott Ferson what I was investigating and what I had found out and he also knew it on Wednesday because I told the whole story to one of his tribal friends. And he knew it when the Globe started sniffing around, after I had called them and told them to read my Monday blog.

And there will be  more, some rather grim things the esteemed Chairman has been up to using tribal funds and facilities, perhaps. Glenn Marshall now says that he needs time to deal with his physical and emotional problems. He might need a long time to do all of what has to be done.

Read previous stories;

• Marshall Receord reveal for first time
  Tribal leader convicted of rape in 1981, claims as war hero and police officer unsubstantiated
  
• Freedom of Speech is not a Glen Marshall obligation
  Get ready for "King Marshall's War" against Joe Wamp
  
• It must be a clerical error
  Five Purple Hearts AND the Silver Star for Valor?
• Other recent articles by Peter Kenney