NECC VP Fights to Keep License

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The former vice president and part owner of a defunct drug compounding firm is fighting to keep his license as a real estate salesman charging that state officials are acting prematurely based on a false premise.
In a four-page motion filed with the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Brokers and Salesmen, lawyers for Gregory Conigliaro, argued that a final judgment has not been issued following his 2018 conviction on charges of conspiracy to defraud the federal government.
Conigliaro was vice president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for a deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. He was one of 14 charged by a federal grand jury following a two year probe of the outbreak.
Conigliaro was convicted late last year along with four other people connected to NECC. The state board subsequently issued an order to show cause why his license should not be revoked because he engaged in conduct demonstrating a lack of good moral character.
Conigliaro's lawyer, Daniel Rabinowitz, however argued that the board could not act until a final judgment was issued by the federal judge presiding over his case.
"Final judgment has not entered and, thus, Mr. Conigliaro has not been convicted," the motion states, adding that the board action was based on a false premise.
Conigliaro was issued a real estate license on Dec. 7, 2013, over a year after NECC was forced to shutdown.
The motion also notes that Conigliaro has appealed the conviction asking U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to issue an acquittal order or grant him a new trial. The judge has yet to act on the motion
The motion also notes that prior cases cited by the board as precedent "involved far more serious charges than the single count Mr. Conigliaro was charged with."
The motion also disputes the charge that Conigliaro violated the terms of his license by failing to report his conviction to the board. Rabinowitz wrote that he had advised Conigliaro not to report the conviction until a final verdict was issued.
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