Former Dartmouth selectman and state representative John George, Jr., was charged on April 13 with obstructing justice for concealing approximately $2.5 million in cash from the U.S. District Court following his 2015 sentencing.

George, 70, was sentenced in July 2015 to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $688,772 and forfeiture of $1.38 million for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA). George, however, reported that he only possessed approximately $28,000 in cash, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In late 2015 and early 2016, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, working with the U.S. Marshals Service and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations, recovered more than $2.5 million in cash, as well as Rolex watches and jewelry that George had concealed in safe deposit boxes in New Bedford and Fairhaven, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Todd A. Damiani, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-CI; and U.S. Marshal John Gibbons for the District of Massachusetts made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Doreen Rachal of Weinreb’s Asset Forfeiture Unit and the U.S. Marshals Service’s Asset Forfeiture Unit handled the criminal forfeiture. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Chao and Ryan M. DiSantis of Weinreb’s Public Corruption Unit are prosecuting the criminal case.

George served as state representative from 1989 to 1991. He resigned from the Select Board in 2015, after being found guilty of federal embezzlement charges.