The Massachusetts woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in a snowy collision has lost her Massachusetts Supreme Court appeal seeking to have her case tossed on the grounds of double jeopardy after a chaotic murder trial ended in a hung jury.

Karen Read, 45, is expected to go on trial for the second time as previously scheduled in April on charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.

Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe died from blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia during a January snowstorm in Canton, Massachusetts, about 15 miles outside Beantown. Prosecutors say Read hit him with her SUV and fled the scene after a drunken fight. She claimed it was an elaborate cover-up and that she had left before he suffered any injuries. Jurors couldn't reach an agreement on which side to believe.

After a lower court denied her motion to dismiss following the mistrial, she appealed to the state's highest court, which handed down a decision Tuesday rejecting her argument that jurors only deadlocked on one of the three charges. She wanted the remaining two thrown out.

WATCH KAREN READ: KILLER OR CONVENIENT OUTSIDER?

"The jury clearly stated during deliberations that they had not reached a unanimous verdict on any of the charges and could not do so," Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Serge Georges Jr. wrote in the court's 35-page decision.

Jurors told the judge in a series of notes that they were "deeply divided" over Read's guilt of murder and other charges and could not reach an agreement. 

"Only after being discharged did some individual jurors communicate a different supposed outcome, contradicting their prior notes," Georges wrote.

KAREN READ MISTRIAL PUTS COPS IN TOUGH SPOT, OPENS DOOR FOR ACCUSED KILLER OF BOYFRIEND OFFICER TO WALK FREE

Because the jurors broke their silence only after the trial, it was too late, the court ruled.

"Such posttrial disclosures cannot retroactively alter the trial's outcome -- either to acquit or to convict," Georges wrote. "Accordingly, we affirm the trial judge's denial of the motion to dismiss and the defendant's request for a posttrial juror inquiry."

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Read's new trial is expected to be led by a special assistant prosecutor, Hank Brennan, who once represented the mobster James "Whitey" Bulger and has already begun trying to obtain unpublished records from Massachusetts reporters who have interviewed Read.

Read the court's decision

WATCH: DASHCAM FROM THE NIGHT JOHN O'KEEFE WAS FOUND DEAD

"I don't see how that was going to fly, because it was a mistrial, she wasn't found guilty or not guilty," said Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector and attorney. "Double jeopardy applies when you have a verdict. It's in the Constitution."

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"This is settled law," he added. "This is not double jeopardy, I agree with the court. Let's get to a new trial and resolve this."

The new trial is scheduled to begin on April 1.

She is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit from O'Keefe's family.

Read, in a recent round of interviews, argued that she was framed by the real killers, whom she believes are other members of law enforcement O'Keefe got into a fight with after she dropped him off at the home of fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert. O'Keefe was found dead in the snow on Albert's front lawn.

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Testimony from Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, one of the key investigators, severely hurt prosecutors in court.

Jurors were seen shaking their heads in court as Read's defense team read some of his text messages.

In them, he called Read a "wack job," a "babe … with no a--" and a "c---." He wrote that he wished she would kill herself and joked about looking for nude selfies while searching her phone.

A 24-year-old woman accused of knifing a 65-year-old Boston lawyer to death on his houseboat before taking measures to dump his body out at sea found her protests drowned out in the courtroom during her arraignment Friday morning.

Joseph Donohue suffered multiple stab wounds before police found him around 11 p.m. Sunday wrapped up on his vessel after his son asked for a wellness check at a marine in Charlestown, according to authorities.

Suspect Nora Nelson, who appeared in court wearing white sweats and shackles, answered his door when officers arrived, Assistant District Attorney Rita Muse told the court during the hearing.

"When asked about Mr. Donohue's whereabouts, she was evasive and unresponsive," Muse said. "Her statements were contradictory, and frankly, she lied."

AMERICAN WOMAN ON PARIS TO BOSTON FLIGHT DIES IN MIDAIR

She allegedly claimed her name was "Casey" and told police Donohue was at a strip club. An officer, suspicious of her claims, searched the houseboat anyway.

"He made his way through the residence towards the back bedroom," Muse said. "When he opened the sliding doors in the bedroom leading to a patio area, he saw what would later be identified as 65-year-old Joseph Donohue's body, wrapped in a white and blue covering, secured with duct tape and affixed with weights."

Additional officers arrived and found Donohue's dog dead in the water nearby and alleged evidence that someone had tried to clean up the crime scene.

Nelson allegedly gave "nonsensical answers" to homicide detectives along with a second fake name, Muse said. 

KAREN READ MISTRIAL PUTS COPS IN TOUGH SPOT, OPENS DOOR FOR ACCUSED KILLER OF BOYFRIEND OFFICER TO WALK FREE

Police arrested her at the scene on unrelated warrants. She was formally charged with Donohue's murder Thursday after an autopsy found his cause and manner of death to be a homicide by stabbing. 

Without going into specifics, Muse told the judge that forensic evidence recovered from Donohue's remains linked Nelson to the crime.

The defendant, who had her eyes turned downward as Muse spoke, appeared to wipe a tear from her eyes when the prosecutor told the judge there was probable cause to believe she had murdered Donohue.

Defense attorney Ian Davis asked for time to review discovery before filing a potential bail request. 

The court entered a not guilty plea on Nelson's behalf before the judge granted the prosecution's request to have her held without bail, prompting the defendant to speak up.

"No one ever told me that this –" Nelson began, before her voice was drowned out by others in the courtroom trying to cut her off. "This is the first time I've ever heard this –."

She is due back in court on March 6.

The investigation is ongoing and Boston police are asking anyone with information on the case to call homicide detectives at 617-343-4470.

Donohue's connection to his suspected killer was not immediately clear. Public records show he lived on the houseboat and has been licensed to practice law since the 1980s.

A group of moms in one Massachusetts public school district were condemned for questioning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion's (DEI) influence on local education, but now the district itself is changing course.

Carey Goldberg, a contributing writer for Globe Ideas, wrote an extensive opinion piece about how a trio of mothers in the tony Boston suburb braved public backlash to warn against far-left school policy changes. The three moms, all of whom were Democratic Party voters, began to question Newton public school district policies in 2022.

"At first we were just trying to understand the drastic changes that took place while no one was in school during COVID," Vanessa Calagna, one of the trio, told The Globe writer. "It was like we were trying to put a puzzle together. And then we were trying to ring the alarm."

Those changes, Goldberg wrote, "involved a heightened emphasis on racial equity and antiracism, including a district commitment to ‘dismantle structures rooted in racism’ and seek ‘more equitable outcomes for all students.’"

BOSTON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR CALLS LAYOFFS AT IBRAM X. KENDI'S ANTIRACISM CENTER ‘EMPLOYMENT VIOLENCE’

One of the most controversial initiatives was combining students into "multilevel" classes, where, "Rather than students being divided into separate classes by level, students at varying levels would learn together — even in math, science, and languages." 

The purported goal was to "break the persistent pattern that white and Asian students predominated in ‘honors’ classes while Black and Hispanic students tended to be clustered in less-challenging ‘college-prep’ classes."

"[The mothers] wanted to know whether the multilevel classes and other new policies — such as denying advanced math students the chance to skip ahead a year — hurt students academically," the author summarized. "They also worried that the schools’ newer approaches to race and other identities emphasized differences rather than commonalities. And that equity was being defined as 'equal outcomes' rather than fairness."

School Committee member Paul Levy estimated that when he campaigned in 2021, 80% of more than 1,000 parents voiced concerns to him about these issues, but many would not dare speak about them in public for fear of being called "racist."

In 2022, the trio of mothers and their allies faced severe backlash after launching a petition to create an advisory panel that would give parents a voice on such academic issues. 

CONSERVATIVE EDUCATION ACTIVIST RUNNING FOR CONGRESS AFTER VICTORIES OVER DEI PROGRAMS: ‘SPEAKING TO FAIRNESS’

"The mothers and their allies found themselves portrayed online and in public as dog-whistling bigots doing the bidding of right-wing national groups," Goldberg wrote. She added further that "PTO newsletters opposed them, as did the teachers’ union and the robust local group Families Organizing for Racial Justice, which claimed in an email that some petitioners ‘challenge the need for any activities related to microaggressions, inclusion, respect, or belonging.’"

When the three mothers and other parents questioned these new policies, defenders would cite the district’s "statement of values and commitment to racial equity," which sought "more equitable outcomes" and "an antiracist future."

"And that was untouchable," Calagna told The Globe contributor. "That was the third rail until, all of a sudden, now."

Now many Newton teachers are reportedly "openly rebelling" against multilevel classes.

"Those teachers report that the classes do not tend to work well for anyone — not for teachers, not for students who need more support, not for those who need more challenges," Goldberg reported. "Many parents concur."

"I’ve heard about multilevel classes from many, many parents over the last three years, and the feedback has been consistently negative," School Committee member Rajeev Parlikar reportedly argued during a meeting in November. "I actually have not heard from a single parent who thought their child benefited from being in a multilevel class."

However, even with both teachers and parents openly calling to remove multilevel classes by next fall, Newton’s new superintendent, Anna Nolin, told Goldberg such reforms are a long process.

"When [Nolin} took office in mid-2023, she found that the prestigious district lacked basic infrastructure that is standard elsewhere, including systems for curriculum development and student assessments," Goldberg summarized. "Also absent: an agreed-upon system for the district to track the effects of the multilevel classes on student achievement."

Work is reportedly underway to create distinct levels, but Nolin warned, "you can’t fix the curriculum overnight."

The superintendent has also begun efforts to restore parents’ trust in the schools, such as by establishing a new Office of Family Engagement so parents "know exactly what we’re doing."

Nolin observed that after the COVID-19 pandemic, "parent attitudes toward the schools changed, and there was a skepticism about how effective our methods were. For whatever reason, they did not feel heard by the school system, and that is the cocktail that brought us this schism between ‘equity’ and ‘excellence’ groups."

The superintendent noted that the school’s motto "Equity & Excellence," is now seen as "divisive." 

It will soon be replaced by the phrase, "Where All Children Thrive."

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Fox News Digital reached out to the school district and did not receive an immediate reply. 

The Democratic governor of Massachusetts signaled her support for arresting criminal illegal immigrants, saying she supports "the apprehension of criminals in our communities" 

Gov. Maura Healey told reporters on Thursday that she supports arresting criminals, regardless of whether they are undocumented or not, according to local news outlet WCVB.

Fox News witnessed ICE Boston making eight arrests this week, including multiple MS-13 members, Interpol Red Notices, murder and rape suspects, and a volatile Haitian gang member with 18 convictions in recent years who shouted that he "ain’t going back to Haiti" and "F--- Trump, Biden forever!"

The arrests come as the Trump administration moves rapidly to fulfill its promise to launch a historic mass deportation operation, which it has said will focus primarily – but not exclusively – on public safety threats.

‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’: TRUMP DECLARES AMBITIOUS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Addressing the arrests, Healey said she "wouldn't describe them as raids," but instead, "what it seems to be, and what we expected and what I support, which is the apprehension of criminals in our communities."

"Whether you’re documented or undocumented, you commit crimes, you’re subject to investigation and prosecution and accountability, and it looks like that is what happened," Healey said, according to Fox local outlet, Boston 25.

Healey, who previously vowed to resist Trump’s deportation efforts in November, noted that Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, despite a 2017 ruling by the state Supreme Judicial Court that severely limits law enforcement cooperation with ICE.

Healey said in November that her state police will "absolutely not" be cooperating with Trump's mass deportation efforts, warning that she will use "every tool in the toolbox" to "protect" residents in the blue state.

"I still remain opposed on efforts to target large swaths of an undocumented population who've done nothing wrong other than they're here without lawful presence," she said.

TRUMP GOES TOE-TO-TOE WITH SANCTUARY CITIES OVER DEPORTATION AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SET TO BEGIN

Healey has taken a slightly more centrist position on immigration enforcement in recent months.

After an illegal migrant was caught using the state’s migrant shelter system for illegal activity, Healey said she was "outraged," She ordered a full inspection of the system and sent a letter to Massachusetts legislative leaders, urging them to amend the state’s "right to shelter" laws to exclude illegal immigrants.

At the time, she commented that Trump now has the opportunity to fix the border and said, "I hope he does."

ICE ARRESTS MORE THAN 530 MIGRANTS IN ONE DAY AMID TRUMP'S CRACKDOWN

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, however, continues to staunchly oppose the Trump administration’s crackdown.

She has taken to social media several times this week to express her anger over Trump’s immigration decisions, saying in one X post that "State & local law enforcement cannot be commandeered for federal immigration enforcement. Despite what President Trump may think, he doesn't have the authority to unilaterally rewrite our Constitution."

"State AGs won't hesitate to respond if his threats become illegal actions," she said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Meanwhile, Republican state Representatives Michael Soter and Kenneth Sweezey introduced a bill on Friday, titled "An Act to promote and protect safety in the Commonwealth," which would empower local and state law enforcement to more fully cooperate with ICE.

"The immigration issue in Massachusetts has gotten completely out of control," Sweezey said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital. "This piece of legislation is a very simple, common-sense first step in rectifying part of the issue."

Bill Melugin, Stephen Sorace and Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., seems to have been financially rewarded for taking a stand against transgender athletes in women's sports, but his critics aren't backing down. 

Moulton raised $547,153 from Election Day in November to the end of 2024, according to The Boston Globe. That figure is 10 times higher than what he raised in the same period in 2022, and 80% of the donations were $100 or less. 

"I think most Democrats want to put this issue to bed, so that we don’t keep losing on it," Moulton told the outlet.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

The congressman was one of the most vocal Democrats to speak out against transgender inclusion in women's and girls sports after his party's sweeping election loss for the White House, House of Representatives and Senate. 

Moulton initially made his comments blaming his party's stance on transgender inclusion in a New York Times article Nov. 7, just two days after the election, then repeatedly doubled down on that stance amid backlash from those within his own party.

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

Moulton's comments prompted a pro-transgender rally outside his office Nov. 17, and now a second rally is planned for outside his office Tuesday, Jan. 28. 

Salem city Councilman Kyle Davis, who organized the rallies, previously told Fox News Digital there is a sizable Democratic contingent in Massachusetts that plans to primary Moulton in 2026. 

Even though Moulton has publicly disavowed supporting transgender inclusion in women's and girls sports, he still voted against a bill that would help combat it last week. 

Moulton joined 206 Democratic representatives who voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act Jan. 14. Moulton previously cosponsored the Equality Act and Transgender Bill of Rights, both of which would allow transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. 

On Tuesday, two Democrats joined the Republican majority in voting in favor of the bill — representatives Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas. But Moulton, despite now opposing transgender inclusion, voted against the bill Tuesday, saying he does not want children to be "subjected to the invasive violations of personal privacy this bill allows."

That argument was similar to one many other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have made, insisting it would empower child predators to give genital examinations to young girls. 

The bill passed in the House with bipartisan support and is moving to the Senate, and some Democratic voters have chosen to leave the party in response to their representatives' child predator argument. 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. Of the 2,128 people polled, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. 

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

Shortly after November's election, a national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them. 

And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."

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Massachusetts must pay the federal government $2.1 billion over the next 10 years to resolve a debt after the state under former GOP Gov. Charlie Baker's administration mistakenly used federal pandemic funds to cover unemployment benefits.

Current Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, and her deputies released details on Monday of a settlement they reached with the outgoing Biden administration last week in which the state will repay most of the money it owed because of the error, the State House News Service reported.

In 2023, Healey announced that her administration uncovered that the prior administration improperly used about $2.5 billion in federal pandemic relief funds to cover unemployment benefits that should have been funded by the state.

The total liability exceeded $3 billion, including fees and interest, according to Healey’s office. Negotiations with the U.S. Department of Labor dropped the total owed to $2.1 billion over the next decade.

DEM MASSACHUSETTS NOW WANTS TO LIMIT ILLEGALS IN CRIME-RIDDEN MIGRANT SHELTERS

"We were dismayed to uncover early on in our term that the previous administration misspent billions of dollars in federal relief funds and that our state was facing what could have been a more than $3 billion tab to pay it back," Healey said in a statement on Monday.

"For the past year and a half, we have engaged in extensive negotiations with the U.S. Department of Labor to minimize the impact on Massachusetts residents, businesses and our economy," she continued. "Today, we have reduced our potential liability by over $1 billion and negotiated a decade-long payment window to mitigate the impact."

The governor added that it is "incredibly frustrating that the prior administration allowed this to happen" but that the current administration is "going to use this as a moment to come together with the business and labor community to make meaningful reforms to the Unemployment Insurance system."

Payments will begin Dec. 1 and continue each year for the next decade.

The agreement states that principal payments must come from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund, which is funded by a tax on employers and is also used to cover benefits, according to the State House News Service. Interest payments will come from the state’s General Fund.

Healey’s office said businesses will not face higher rates on their unemployment insurance payments through at least the end of next year, at which point rates will depend on system reforms.

BLUE STATE GOV CHANGES TUNE AFTER VOWING TO FIGHT TRUMP DEPORTATION EFFORTS, NOW HOPES HE FIXES BORDER

The governor vowed to pursue changes to soften the burden on employers, who already face higher costs to support an uptick of claims during the pandemic, according to the State House News Service.

Healey directed state Labor Secretary Lauren Jones and Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz to "conduct a comprehensive review of the solvency of UI and assess potential reforms."

The Healey administration projected the UI Trust Fund would be hundreds of millions of dollars in debt by the end of 2028, even before taking into account the $2.1 billion in additional payments.

An illegal migrant from the Dominican Republic was caught hiding guns and up to $1 million in drugs in a state-sponsored shelter near Boston.

The post Migrant Caught Hiding Guns, $1M Worth of Drugs in Boston-Area Shelter appeared first on Breitbart.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is hardening her approach to the state’s migrant crisis in the face of mounting safety concerns and just days before President-elect Trump is sworn into office.

Healey, a Democrat, is proposing drastic changes to how the state houses migrants by proposing that all families staying in emergency shelters be in the country legally, with rare exceptions. The move would effectively prevent new migrants from staying in state shelters. 

The change, which comes after a review of the state’s right-to-shelter law, would see all shelter applicants be required to show that they are either a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident or are here "under the color of law." Exceptions are made for households that include children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

ICE ARRESTS 3 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN MASS.: 2 CHARGED WITH CHILD RAPE, 1 CONVICTED OF SAME CRIME IN BRAZIL

The governor is also looking to strengthen background checks for anyone staying at a shelter by requiring them to disclose criminal convictions in the state and elsewhere. 

Her proposal would require applicants to verify their identity, residency and immigration status before being housed. Currently, shelter applicants are allowed to be housed before providing any documentation. 

It would also limit those qualifying due to evictions to the state, not anywhere in the country. For instance, this would eliminate a scenario where a migrant is evicted in another state and then comes to Massachusetts and gets shelter benefits.

"I believe these changes are appropriate and needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the state shelter system in a way that aligns with the original intent of the law," Healey said in a statement. "In addition, these proposed changes will allow us to continue to ensure the safety of our system, support cities and towns in addressing the needs of unhoused families in their communities and put us on the path toward a more fiscally sustainable shelter system."

The moves come amid safety concerns at the state’s shelters and various crimes being linked to illegal migrants in the state. Records from the state indicate there have been hundreds of serious incidents at the shelters, including rapes.

Last month, an illegal immigrant was allegedly caught with an AR-15 and about $1 million worth of fentanyl in a state-subsidized hotel room. An El Salvadoran illegal immigrant was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a child while Immigration and Customs Enforcement has seen a recent spike in illegal immigrants arrested for sex crimes in the Boston area and throughout Massachusetts.

Healey said in November that her state police will "absolutely not" be cooperating with the expected mass deportation effort by the incoming Trump administration, warning that she will use "every tool in the toolbox" to "protect" residents in the blue state.

Healey’s new proposals about after a review of the state’s right to shelter law, "continued inaction by Congress and no assistance from the federal government."

The proposals need to be approved by the legislature, and Healey outlined her recommendations in a letter to the Senate President, Speaker, and House and Senate Ways and Means Chairs, urging the changes to be in the Emergency Assistance (EA) Supplemental Budget.

DEM GOVERNOR THREATENS TO USE ‘EVERY TOOL’ TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST TRUMP-ERA DEPORTATIONS

She recently announced that the administration will phase out the use of hotels and motels as shelters by the end of 2025.

Massachusetts adopted its Right to Shelter law 40 years ago, which was designed to provide housing for families in need, specifically pregnant women and children experiencing homelessness. 

In recent years, migrants have sought shelter under this law which has overwhelmed its shelter system. Last year, Healey declared a state of emergency in the state due to the surge and called for federal action. She also acknowledged that the state’s policies may be a draw for migrants.

Migrants were even sleeping on the floors of Boston's Logan International Airport as the shelter system became overcrowded. 

About 50,000 migrants have come to the state since 2021, according to. July report by the Center for Immigration Studies. 

Democratic House Speaker Ronald Mariano said the new proposal is in line with what lawmakers have been trying to do.

"From the outset of the shelter system crisis, the House has consistently led the effort to ensure that the Commonwealth’s emergency assistance program could remain financially viable in the long-term, resulting in reforms that capped the maximum length of stay, and that required job training for individuals in the shelter system," he said in a statement, per The Associated Press. 

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr also welcomed the proposal. 

"With the growing consensus not only on Beacon Hill, but throughout the Commonwealth, that major changes are needed urgently, we have the opportunity to at last take actions that will make the system safer, more accountable and transparent, and more sustainable," Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said in a statement.

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Massachusetts' Republican Party in August accused Healey of quietly having spent over $1 billion on the state’s migrant crisis.

"The Healey-Driscoll Administration has shrouded nearly $1 billion spent in secrecy, leaving Massachusetts residents in the dark," Massachusetts Republican Party Chair Amy Carnevale said in a statement at the time. 

"They have withheld critical information on 600 incidents involving police, fire, and EMTs. Blocking journalists at every turn, the administration has obstructed the flow of information to the public."

Boston ICE agents had to arrest a Brazilian illegal immigrant charged with rape and extortion twice because of sanctuary policies in the state of Massachusetts.

An ICE statement published last week said that Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations officials arrested 29-year-old Agnaldo Moreira da Cruz, for the second time in December.

This came after officials in Barnstable County, in Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, twice ignored ICE detainer requests against Moreira da Cruz.

MAJOR BLUE CITY MAYOR SILENT AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT USES SHELTER FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

According to the ICE statement, the Barnstable County Superior Court not only ignored their detainer requests but also violated the terms of their own agreement by refusing to return Moreira da Cruz to ICE, after obtaining him through a "writ of habeas corpus."

Moreira da Cruz was originally arrested in August 2023 by police in Yarmouth. He was arraigned in December 2023 and held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, which is run by the Barnstable Sheriff’s Office, until he was released on June 18, 2024, despite there being an ICE detainer against him. 

ICE tracked down and arrested Moreira da Cruz several months later on Oct. 16 and, after receiving a habeas corpus request, had to again turn him over to the Barnstable Superior Court on Nov. 27. The court then ignored the ICE detainer and released him on Dec. 5.

Moreira da Cruz is charged with a series of violent felonies, including rape and extortion with threat of injury.

BLUE STATE GOV CHANGES TUNE AFTER VOWING TO FIGHT TRUMP DEPORTATION EFFORTS, NOW HOPES HE FIXES BORDER

"This is not someone you want to release into the community, but twice now our detainers have been ignored," said ICE. "These decisions have repeatedly put the citizens of Massachusetts at risk of being victimized by an alleged dangerous offender."

Asked why the ICE detainer was not honored, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Trial Court sent Fox News Digital a copy of the policy followed by the court, which is based on a precedent set by a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling called "Lunn vs. Commonwealth."

The policy stipulates that Trial Court employees "do not have authority to detain an individual based solely" on ICE detainers and those immigrants subject to these requests "shall be processed and handled in the same way that all other individuals coming before the court are processed and handled."

The policy also states that no court officer or employee may "call or otherwise initiate communication with any ICE official" to notify them that an immigrant is in court custody and that "no ICE official shall be permitted to take an individual into custody pursuant to a civil immigration detainer in a courtroom."

ICE NABS ILLEGAL MIGRANT ACCUSED OF HEINOUS CRIME AND RELEASED BY MASSACHUSETTS SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Barnstable Sheriff Donna Buckley told Fox News Digital that Lunn vs. Commonwealth makes it so that "it is unlawful for state and local law enforcement agencies to arrest or detain people solely on the basis of an ICE detainer, beyond the time that the individual would otherwise be entitled to be released from State custody."

"The Massachusetts sheriffs operate within the scope and parameters of federal, state and local laws and regulations," said Buckley. "As such, the sheriffs are bound to follow the law of the Commonwealth, and therefore cannot hold an individual based on an ICE detention request alone, if that incarcerated individual is not subject to separate judicially issued detention orders."

"The sheriffs do not make the law. The sheriffs enforce the law," she added.

DEM GOVERNOR THREATENS TO USE 'EVERY TOOL' TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST TRUMP-ERA DEPORTATIONS

Meanwhile, Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and law and policy expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital, though the Massachusetts courts have the final say in instances such as this, "it's important to note that's not necessarily the final word."

"Immigration is the ultimate federal issue," said Arthur. "When states interpose themselves in that process, they're really getting into an area in which they have no expertise based upon anecdote and speculation."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

He noted that states and localities receive billions of dollars in federal funding every year, which can be made dependent on complying with federal immigration authorities.

"On the one hand, they're demanding money from the federal government, and on the other hand, they're telling the federal government that they won't assist them in a key government duty," he said. "Congress can always place any conditions that they want on funding, and this is a reasonable condition for them to put in place."

ICE ARRESTS ALLEGED CHILD SEX PREDATOR, MS-13 GANG MEMBER IN MASSACHUSETTS

Arthur said that he anticipates the Trump administration and incoming border czar Tom Homan will move quickly to push Congress to put such stipulations in place.

"The biggest issue with this is that it places ICE enforcement and removal officers in great danger because, rather than taking custody of a criminal in a secure location, a local jail or a state prison, they have to actually go out on the street. They have to find that person at their house, and that puts their lives at danger," he explained. "It's also important to note this is a community safety issue."

"If we really want to keep our streets safe," he went on, "the best way to do that is to take the criminals off the street. And really, that's what should be happening, and I anticipate you will see a movement, particularly under a second Trump administration, to make that happen."

Despite the actions by Barnstable County officials, Moreira da Cruz is currently in ICE custody, pending immigration and criminal proceedings.

Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu is keeping silent after an illegal immigrant was caught using a taxpayer-funded migrant shelter in the Boston suburbs for criminal activity, including storing a weapon and nearly $1 million worth of drugs.

Wu failed to respond to repeated requests for comment from Fox News Digital, despite the migrant shelter involved being just a short drive from Downtown Boston.

Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is facing criminal charges in federal court for illegally possessing an AR-15 and ammunition and over 400 grams of fentanyl with intent to distribute, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Boston 25 News also reported that Sanchez was also caught possessing cocaine with "an estimated street value of at least $750,000." He is currently being kept in custody by state authorities.

BLUE STATE GOV CHANGES TUNE AFTER VOWING TO FIGHT TRUMP DEPORTATION EFFORTS, NOW HOPES HE FIXES BORDER

Sanchez was storing his weapon and drugs in his room at the Quality Inn Hotel in Revere, Massachusetts, which is a government-funded shelter for migrants.  

Boston and Massachusetts both have sanctuary policies in place and both Wu and Governor Maure Healey have vowed to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration.

Despite this, Healey expressed anger over the incident, saying, "It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity."

Healey ordered an inspection of all shelters, starting with the Quality Inn Hotel in Revere, as well as a "full review" of the state’s shelter intake processes.

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"This further underscores our broken federal immigration system and the urgent need for Congress and the White House to act on a border security bill to prevent criminals from entering our communities," said Healey. "The people of Massachusetts should not continue to have to deal with the impacts of federal inaction."  

However, Wu, who has said Boston’s sanctuary policies "make everyone safer," has remained silent. Although Fox News Digital spoke with Wu’s office, neither she nor her office have issued any response to Sanchez’s arrest. 

Since Trump’s 2024 electoral victory, Wu has doubled down on Boston’s sanctuary city status, saying police and city officials would not assist federal authorities with deportations.

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Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has seen a recent spike in illegal immigrants arrested for sex crimes in the Boston area and throughout Massachusetts.

Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan has called out Wu for pledging resistance to the administration’s immigration agenda, telling Newsmax in November that "she’s not very smart."

"President Trump is going to prioritize public safety threats," said Homan. "What mayor or governor doesn’t want public safety threats out of their communities? I mean that’s your number one responsibility is to protect your communities and that’s exactly what we’re going to do."

A Massachusetts state senator is calling the state's emergency housing assistance program into question after an illegal immigrant was allegedly caught with an AR-15 and about $1 million worth of fentanyl in a state-subsidized hotel room. 

Leonardo Andujar Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, 28, was arrested by Revere Police on Dec. 27 and charged with 11 criminal counts in Chelsea District Court. Ten were related to firearms possession – including one for being an "alien" in possession of a firearm – and one for possession of approximately 10 pounds of the synthetic opiate.

Sanchez was also charged in Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday with possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl and unlawful possession of a firearm. He had been living at the Quality Inn in Revere, where authorities found five kilograms of suspected fentanyl, an AR-style assault rifle, ammunition, two rifle magazines, digital scales and latex gloves in his room, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston estimated that the drugs were collectively worth about $1 million, according to an agency press release. The agency was called in by local police after Sanchez was arrested, and determined that he had entered the U.S. illegally.

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Sanchez was arraigned on Dec. 30 and denied bail. Judge Jane Prince ordered the court documents sealed, but records in federal court provided some details about Sanchez's arrest.

Sanchez's girlfriend called Revere police around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 27 to report that he had drugs and a long, black gun hidden under a pink suitcase in their hotel room. The woman told police that she had been living at the Quality Inn for three months and that she and Sanchez had obtained the room through a refugee program.

Police entered the room where Sanchez was sleeping, woke him and handcuffed him. They then found fentanyl, an AR-style assault rifle, ammunition, digital scales and latex scales, commonly used in drug distribution, a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer wrote in federal court records.

The Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities told the Boston Herald that Sanchez and his family had been living at the Revere Quality Inn since Oct. 15. 

The office told the outlet that it conducts warrant checks on its emergency assistance residences every 30 days, and that it has on-site security at hotels used for the program at all times. 

"There is zero tolerance for criminal activity in EA shelters," the office told Boston 25. "We took immediate action to terminate this individual from the EA system, and we confirmed with federal immigration officials that they have lodged a detainer."

Gov. Maura Healey said on Tuesday that Sanchez had never applied for housing and was "not part of the (emergency assistance) program. He was in that shelter, though," WCVB reported.

State Sen. Ryan Fattman questioned how Sanchez was able to take advantage of the program while several of his native-born constituents could not. 

"We just had a mother of two whose house burned down in my district a few days ago. And she can't get access to a shelter because we've decided to help the world. I mean, this is outrageous," Fattman told Fox News Digital. 

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Since 1983, Massachusetts has been the only state in the nation to provide a "Right to Shelter" for homeless families – adults accompanied by one or more children. Over the past two years, Fattman said, the state has spent about $2.5 million sheltering undocumented immigrants under its emergency shelter program.

"What we've started to learn is that the vetting process for a bunch of these individuals is flawed because we've had dangerous criminal migrants coming into Massachusetts and inflicting harm upon not just our people, but some of the people in the shelter," Fattman said. "And so this gentleman, Sanchez, is the most recent from the Dominican who trafficked $1 million worth of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine and had firearms that are illegal in Massachusetts. And he's got a taxpayer-funded shelter program, which he's living out of."

Residents of the state's emergency shelter program must be within 115% of federal poverty guidelines, making less than $1,443 per month with an additional $515 for each additional person in the household, the Boston Herald reported. 

But according to the outlet, Sanchez has retained a private attorney. 

"Criminals are cunning, so they're not going to reveal if they know there's a free program that they can take advantage of potentially all their assets, especially if they're trafficking drugs… They're not stupid for the most part, and they're going to take advantage of our laws. And clearly that is what they're doing," Fattman said. 

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"And now it just adds insult to injury, because they can clearly afford to have private representation, but a public taxpayer-funded room to live out of and to traffic drugs out of in and they're in ahead of line in front of people that I represent whose houses are burned down and they have children and about to go homeless, you know, getting driven out of the hotel that they're renting through insurance money," he continued.

Fattman insists that unsealing Sanchez's court documents is the first step to understanding the state's apparent shortcomings in its vetting process for the program. 

"We need to know in order to make the best course forward, how to change this. And the only way to know is by un-impounding the documents and revealing what's in them and knowing how this person got here – who made the decision to bring them here?" Fattman said. "Like if they're part of a cartel, you basically have invited the cartels into Massachusetts to do harm to our families, our children. It's just totally unacceptable."

Massachusetts' Republican Party in August accused Healey of quietly having spent over $1 billion on the state’s migrant crisis.

"The Healey-Driscoll Administration has shrouded nearly $1 billion spent in secrecy, leaving Massachusetts residents in the dark," Massachusetts Republican Party Chair Amy Carnevale said in a statement at the time. "They have withheld critical information on 600 incidents involving police, fire, and EMTs. Blocking journalists at every turn, the administration has obstructed the flow of information to the public."

The Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities and the governor's office did not respond to requests for comment.

During a Friday news conference, though, Healey said Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, that all shelters are undergoing mandatory searches, and background checks are being conducted on everyone in the state's shelter system to ensure that no criminals are living in those facilities.

The Democratic governor said she has been disappointed with the federal government's handling of immigration and hopes President-elect Trump addresses the border issue.

Fox News' Andrew Fone contributed to this report.

Wild video shows the moment thieves robbed a FedEx driver as he was making a delivery in Harvard, Massachusetts, on Friday, snatching the package from his arms and fleeing the scene.

In a press release, the Harvard Police Department said its officers responded to a report of an armed robbery at about 12:43 p.m.

When the officers arrived, they spoke with the victim, a FedEx driver who was delivering a package at a residence.

The driver told investigators that a white, late-model Acura TLX with very dark tinted windows and a partial Connecticut license plate bearing the letters "BN" pulled up alongside his van when he got out to make the delivery. Two masked men got out of the car and approached the driver from behind. One of them then snatched the package out of the driver's hands.

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Video captured from nearby surveillance cameras shows the moment the package was taken by force, and while no firearm is seen in the footage, the suspects allegedly made verbal threats toward the driver, implying they were armed.

Police said a preliminary investigation led them to believe the suspects were targeting the specific delivery after a neighbor reported seeing the suspects’ vehicle parked nearby for several hours before the robbery.

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WPRI in Providence, Rhode Island, reported that the four suspects were arrested in connection to the robbery after a multi-state police chase ended near the city. 

Traffic cameras on Interstate 95 captured a vehicle crash near Elmwood Avenue, which brought the chase to an end.

One person was reportedly injured in the crash and remained with the vehicle while the other three people inside the vehicle fled the scene, Providence Police Col. Oscar Perez told the station. He added that the three people who fled were captured a short time later.

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The person who remained in the car was taken to an area hospital.

The station reported that Cranston Police Col. Michael Winquist said the suspects who were arrested were driving a white Acura with Connecticut plates and that it crashed on the Providence-Cranston line.

Police also used search dogs to search for any firearms that may have been discarded during the pursuit.

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Providence police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for information.

A Massachusetts mother of two was seriously injured after a man pulled her out of her car and body-slammed her head-first during a road-rage attack caught on video after a minor fender-bender. 

Hailea Soares, 31, was driving in Attleboro, Massachusetts, around 9 a.m. Friday when she rear-ended the driver in front of her, who had stopped suddenly, according to WHDH-TV News. 

"He kept slamming on his brakes and then when we got to the intersection, he hit a light and he was in front of me," Soares told the outlet. "As soon as we went through, we didn’t even make it across and he slammed on the brakes, so I hit him."

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Gladior Kwesiah, a 26-year-old Rhode Island resident, then pulled Soares out of her vehicle, according to the Attleboro Police Department. 

When Soares tried to take photos of the damage to her vehicle, the attacker yanked away her phone, she said. 

"I tried to defend myself, and then he picked me up, and that was when the woman got the video of me being thrown to the ground," she told WHDH. "I remember thinking, ‘I’m in the air right now. I’m in the air.'"

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Soares was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital suffering from a broken knee, a broken foot, an injured eye socket and a serious head wound, according to WHDH.

Kwesiah was arrested on scene and charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon resulting in serious injury, malicious destruction of property and driving without a license, according to the Attleboro Police Department. He is being held on $25,000 bail. 

Attleboro police Sgt. Kevin Sellers told WHDH the incident was "inappropriate and unacceptable conduct stemming from what was essentially a minor motor vehicle crash."

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Soares said she was just happy to survive the attack.

"He was just being a jerk--- on the road," she said in an interview with ABC-TV News. "I don’t know if he was having a bad day. I don’t know what that was, but if that’s the type of person he is, I don’t think he belongs in society with the rest of us."

A GoFundMe initiative for Soares' medical expenses had raised nearly $29,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.