PAR convicted in waste-spill case

You know, they've always acted as if they were in a bubble, like they were running a bussiness behind a fence that no one can see through. Running a freight railroad isn't like treating railroad ties, which is how the whole Guilford, and then Pan Am enterprise got its' start. As a bussiness, they are privately held, and the key word there is private. But you can't operate a railroad as if no one will notice or care, and where there are laws that apply to what you do.

PAR lost their appeal.

A pretty good summary of the whole affair can be found at http://www.nashobapublishing.com/ayer_news/ci_18668011

Nashoba Publishing wrote:BOSTON -- At $500,000, it was touted as the largest corporate criminal fine in state history.

And so it came as no surprise that umbrella company Pan Am Railways, and its subsidiaries Springfield Terminal Railway, Boston & Maine Corporation and Maine Central Railroad, would try to appeal the precedent-setting case that unfolded in Ayer.

But that attempt was derailed following today's ruling handed down by the Appeals Court, affirming the convictions on all counts.

Apparently they have already gotten the money

"As part of their sentencing on March 30, 2009, the corporations were also placed on three years probation. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Fahey also ordered that there be no bonuses awarded to executives at either company over $100,000 at any company in a 12-month period until the criminal fines were paid to the state. The fines were paid into escrow jointly held by Pan Am and the Attorney General's Office pending the outcome of the appeals. "

That link is now behind a paywall:

Lowell Sun has similar article and synopsis at http://www.lowellsun.com/business/ci_18 ... source=rss