By Rick Sobey
Boston Herald
BOSTON — A former sheriff’s deputy at a local jail who was fired has been federally convicted of having employees perform home repairs at his house during work hours.
Tom Brady, who was the assistant superintendent with the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office, has pleaded guilty of using his official position to order office employees to perform maintenance work at his home.
The 54-year-old Norwood man pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to one count of witness tampering, and one count of use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion.
Brady — who was the deputy superintendent at the House of Correction in Dedham — was previously accused by the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission of violating the conflict of interest law for the home repairs.
Brady joined the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office in 1996. He was a correction officer until 2021 when he was appointed as assistant deputy superintendent of jail operations at the sheriff’s office. Then in 2023, he was promoted to serve as the deputy superintendent in Dedham.
Before he was fired from the department, he made more than $146,000 in 2024, according to state payroll records. He also made more than $140,000 in 2025, due to more than $80,000 in leave buy back.
In the fall of 2022 as assistant deputy superintendent, Brady ordered a sheriff’s office maintenance worker to perform home heating repairs at his residence during and after work hours.
Because of Brady’s official position and authority, “Maintenance Officer A feared that if he refused Brady’s request to help fix the heating system, Brady would use his official position and authority to negatively affect Maintenance Officer A’s job position at NCSO—including the possibility of causing Maintenance Officer A to lose his preferred shift schedule, position and/or employment at NCSO,” the feds wrote.
The maintenance worker followed Brady’s order, and drove to his home to troubleshoot his heating system during work hours.
Then Brady had more problems with his heating system and contacted the maintenance worker to replace the circulator pump. The maintenance worker returned to Brady’s home with another employee, and they drained the hot water system, removed the old circulator pump and installed the new circulator pump.
Another maintenance officer months later reported Brady to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission for having subordinates perform work at his private residence.
At some point, Brady learned about the ethics investigation. He mailed a letter to the commission, falsely signing the letter from the worker who reported him.
The letter was handwritten and divulged information about a confidential, internal sheriff’s office investigation into one of the maintenance workers. Brady listed himself as a witness to the investigation in the letter.
“Federal investigators examined the postage stamp on the envelope to the SEC (ethics commission) and confirmed that a fingerprint found underneath the stamp belonged to Brady,” the feds wrote. “In addition, the flap and corresponding region of the envelope to the SEC were examined and it was confirmed that male DNA obtained from envelope belonged to the Brady.”
The charge of witness tampering can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
The charge of use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion can lead to a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
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