The former director overseeing Boston Public Schools’ fleet and a vendor face federal charges alleging a long-running bribery and kickback scheme tied to contracts for bus yards and maintenance.
The former Director of Fleet and Facilities for the private company that ran operations and maintenance for Boston Public Schools’ buses was arrested and charged today in a 21-count federal indictment. Authorities say he solicited bribes and kickbacks from vendors who provided cleaning, repair and snow removal services for the city’s bus yards. A vendor who allegedly paid bribes was arrested as well and faces related charges. Officials say the alleged scheme siphoned taxpayer-funded transportation dollars away from their intended purpose.
Federal prosecutors identified the defendants as Michael Muller, 59, of Millbury, Massachusetts, and John Colantuoni, 60, of Westwood, Massachusetts. Muller is accused on multiple counts including soliciting and accepting bribes, conspiring to commit bribery, conspiring to commit honest services mail fraud and extortion. Colantuoni faces counts for paying bribes, conspiracy, honest services mail fraud conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Court filings spell out a pattern of payments, concealment and false statements tied to the BPS contract.
The Transportation Company named in the indictment held a contract to manage over 700 school buses for Boston Public Schools and kept those vehicles in city-owned bus yards. Under the contract, Muller’s role was to ensure the fleet was safe, maintained and ready to run each day. The company subcontracted many services to outside vendors who submitted invoices that passed through the Transportation Company to BPS for payment. Prosecutors say those invoices, paid from an annual taxpayer-funded transportation budget, were manipulated to conceal kickbacks.
Muller allegedly supervised the vendors, had authority to fire them and handled the flow of payments from the Transportation Company to subcontractors. Between 2010 and December 2021, prosecutors allege Muller solicited and accepted more than $870,000 in bribes and kickbacks from five different vendors. The alleged items exchanged included cash, checks, a used pickup truck valued at $15,000 and roughly $85,000 in building materials delivered for Muller’s vacation house. Investigators also allege Muller required a vendor to hire his adult child.
The indictment includes detailed allegations about inflated invoices and routine kickback demands. Prosecutors say one vendor, described as Vendor Two, was instructed to overstate how many engines were power-washed and then to forward a share of total revenues to Muller as a kickback. Muller is accused of pressing vendors immediately after payment cleared, arranging meetings at highway rest stops and discussing splits of cash and checks. Those exchanges are preserved in the indictment as text messages between Muller and Vendor Two.
- Muller: “Did the eagle land?” Vendor Two: “Not there yesterday. Will see on Monday.”
- Vendor Two: “Check did not clear. You got $2,500 last week. $5,000 this week. $500 more next week. $8,000 total….” Muller: “Just add to engine u owe for February.”
- Muller: “What time we meeting and were [sic]? We can meet on pike at rest stop if that works. Also are u giving my whole half or half of what you have? I have today off and want to do some shopping so sooner would be great.” Vendor Two: “Bank opens @9 am. Rest area @ Natick.”
The indictment also alleges Vendor Three invoiced $189,444 for snow-clearing work that was never performed, and that most of those funds were diverted to Muller. Vendor Four is accused of paying a 5 percent kickback on revenues from the Transportation Company, sometimes routing payments to a landscaping company owned by Muller in exchange for fake invoices. Colantuoni’s company is alleged to have bought roughly $85,000 in building materials that ended up at Muller’s vacation home while Colantuoni’s business revenues from the Transportation Company rose sharply.
Prosecutors allege efforts to hide the relationship between Muller and Colantuoni, including false or altered addresses on invoices and misleading statements to suppliers. Colantuoni was arrested in Florida and is expected to appear in federal court in Tampa, with later proceedings in Boston. Muller is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston this afternoon, according to the filings.
“Families and taxpayers trust that the people overseeing their children’s school buses are doing the right thing, not looking for a payout. As alleged, these defendants broke that trust — treating taxpayer-funded contracts as a source of illicit income and, for years, siphoning off money that should have supported students. Their alleged conduct undermines confidence in a system that families rely on every day,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “We are committed to rooting out corruption wherever it occurs and ensuring that public dollars are used for public good.”
The charges carry substantial potential penalties if convictions follow the law: bribery counts include up to 10 years in prison per count, honest services mail fraud conspiracies and extortion counts each carry potential sentences of up to 20 years, and obstruction of justice carries up to 10 years. Each charge also includes possible supervised release and fines up to $250,000, and any final sentence would be determined under federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors say those ranges reflect the statutes governing federal criminal penalties.
Officials from the FBI’s Boston Division and the IRS’s Criminal Investigation unit assisted in the case alongside the Boston Police Department. United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, and Tom Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Boston, announced the indictment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the matter on behalf of the government.
