Families and incarcerated individuals in limbo as Mass. parole decisions stall
For the first time in at least a decade, the Massachusetts Parole Board has issued no decisions in December on life sentence cases, leaving incarcerated individuals and victims' families in limbo.
Overall, about 100 life sentence decisions were made this year, including granting parole to a man who described himself as a " monster " and a Western Massachusetts man who is determined to turn his past into a warning and a lifeline for at-risk youth. However, parole was denied for a woman who killed her mother over "satanic curses" and for a man whose family member called him the "devil."
The lack of releases this month comes amid one of the most consequential years for life sentence reviews in Massachusetts history.
Since the Supreme Judicial Court's January 2024 ruling in Commonwealth v. Mattis, the state has issued more than 45 decisions reconsidering life sentences for people who were 18 to 20 years old at the time of their crimes — the bulk of them released in 2025.
Scholars with Harvard Law School and other criminal defendant advocacy groups have called the SJC decision involving 18- to 20-year-olds a "win for 'emerging adults' and neuroscience."
In Mattis cases, the state parole board weighs four key factors: lack of impulse control, risk-taking behavior, peer influence, and the potential for change as a young adult.
They also reviewed the crime itself, prison records and discipline, program participation, signs of remorse, risk assessments, release plans and input from the victim's family.
Robert Morganti appears before the parole board on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.(Luis Fieldman/MassLive)
"Essentially, the brains of what we are calling 'late adolescents' or 'emerging adults' function very much like juveniles," Northampton attorney Paul Rudof, one of the lawyers who successfully challenged life sentences for individuals aged 18 to 20, told The Republican .
There were 210 cases that fell into the Mattis decision across Massachusetts. Of those, 137 people immediately became eligible for parole hearings.
Of those decisions, 13 were denied parole this year, while 30 were granted parole. There are 31 people who had hearings prior to December still waiting for decisions.
Plus, there are dozens of additional people who don't fall into the Mattis decision waiting to hear about their futures. While people who had hearings over the summer are waiting on their decisions, the hearings have continued this month, adding to the number of decisions needing to be made.
Some families have said this law change has caused them to relive a "nightmare" they thought they left behind. Waiting for the decision can be agony for them.
"This process, and the unavoidable fret of waiting for decisions, is incredibly difficult and often reopens wounds that restarts the grieving process," said Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni.
The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security did not say exactly why these decisions have been delayed but said "the timing can vary based on scheduling and the procedural requirements of each case."
The parole board
The Massachusetts Parole Board has seven spots. But there are currently only six members.
Angelo Gomez is the current chair, having been appointed by Gov. Maura Healey in October.
"I was proud to nominate Angelo Gomez to the board earlier this year because of his decades of experience, leadership and commitment to public safety as a former probation officer and a parole officer. He has continued to impress us as a member of the Board, and he is highly qualified to serve as Chair," said Healey in a press release. "I am grateful that he has agreed to assume this important position and I look forward to continuing to work with him and the entire Parole Board to make Massachusetts safer and fairer for everyone."
He was previously the chief parole supervisor for field services at the Parole Board where he was responsible for overseeing statewide parole operations, policy implementation, staff development and interagency partnerships to enhance public safety and support successful reintegration.
Other board members include Charlene Bonner, who is a designated forensic psychologist (DFP), James M. Kelcourse, who is an attorney, Sarah B. Coughlin, who is licensed clinical social worker, Edith J. Alexander, who was a longtime probation officer, and Rafael Ortiz, who was a probation officer.
In November, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security was working to hire another parole board member.
Although they were accepting applications, the role is ultimately appointed by the governor, and would need to be confirmed by the Governor's Council.
Who is waiting on a decision?
It's not uncommon for the parole board to take 3-4 months to make a decision.
Hearings that were held last December received their decisions in April and people who had hearings in January were given decisions in May.
But while some people who had June hearings received their decisions in November, others are still waiting.
One of those people is Kevin Denis.
Denis, who was 18, killed 17-year-old Diron Spence, a Boston police officer's stepson, on Aug. 19, 1994 after demanding money from Spence and a friend.
Denis' lawyer told The Boston Globe in 1994 he had received a scholarship to go to the University of Massachusetts Amherst to study physical science. He was also known to be shy, run track and go to church.
Another notable person waiting a decision is Tanzerius Anderson , now married to former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson.
At 19, Anderson shot and killed Inaam Yazbek on March 25, 2000.
"I'm filled with grief. There's nothing I can do to return the beloved family member. I only have my sincere contrition and obligation to repair as much as possible any fractures my deplorable behavior has caused," he said during his parole board hearing on Aug. 12.
The parole board was impressed with the work Tanzerius Anderson has done.
"You certainly have done a tremendous amount of work. Tremendous. And nobody can take that from you," one of the board members said.
This has included numerous programs, including starting his own yoga program.
Victims families
Waiting for a decision isn't just difficult for those incarcerated. It also weighs heavily on the hearts and minds of family members of those who have been killed.
Ray Yazbak, the brother of the man who was killed by Anderson, walked out before the parole board hearing was over, hurt by reliving the past.
"Unfortunately, today's hearing made that pain even worse," said John Verner, assistant district attorney at Suffolk County District Attorney's office.
Yazbak felt through the conversation and the parole board telling Anderson he had done a good job, his side wouldn't get fairly heard, Verner explained. And he left.
Yazbak's parents don't know Anderson was up for parole and haven't heard about the law change. He doesn't know how to tell them.
"This will break their heart," he told Verner.
Through a statement, Verner tried to show the parole board Yazbak's pain.
"He ruined my life and my family's life," he said in the statement. "My mother hadn't seen him for 10 years. Because of him, he was sent back to her in a wooden box. I don't need or want his apology. I have no forgiveness for him."
Verner said that during the parole board hearing that the "critical, worst parts of this crime are minimized." And the district attorney's office feels his story does not match up with what happened.
Earlier this year, Timothy Robishaw, the nephew of Anthony LoConte, who was killed by Robert Morganti in 1988, created a Change.org petition seeking to convince Massachusetts lawmakers to reverse the court's ruling or make stricter policy and guidelines. The family had also picketed against the court's landmark decision.
"He showed no remorse until the possibility of getting out," Robishaw said about Morganti.
LoConte's family is adamant that Morganti has not changed his ways and that he is attempting to take advantage of the relatively new law. Morganti was under the age of 20 when he killed their loved one, but spent more than a decade running from police.
"When he first spoke [today] about being remorseful, it was the first time he said anything to our family," Cindy O'Donnell, LoConte's sister, said during a post-hearing interview.
"And I think the only reason he did say that was because he is trying to get out of jail," O'Donnell said.
She said she felt OK when she arrived at the hearing, but then broke down within the first five minutes.
"It's hard to compose yourself," O'Donnell said. "It's like rehashing everything all over again. It's like the trial is back again. You are reliving it; it's a nightmare."
But unlike during a trial, a decision hasn't been made quickly and the family continues to wait.
It took four months for Sonia Leal's sister to find out if her sister's killer, Robert Larkin, would be freed.
She told the parole board in April that she felt Larkin wouldn't have taken any classes to better himself.
He admitted during his parole board hearing that at the time of his crime, he didn't view the woman he killed "as a human being."
"The ruling treats murderers as victims while betraying those murdered and their families," she said, adding that she believes mercy is allowing Larkin to live out his life in prison.
He was denied parole in August.
Gulluni called the decision an affront to these families and that the "victims become invisible."
"For victims and survivors, the impact of violent crime does not end when a sentence is imposed — it is something they live with every day. And now, more than ever, they are forced to revisit some of the most painful moments of their lives as they deal with conviction appeals and unrelenting attempts by offenders for parole release," he said, adding that his office works hard to listen, support them and "to fight for them in a process that often overlooks them."
"We want them to know they are not going through this process alone and that they have a voice that should be heard," he said.
And it doesn't end for all the families involved even if the incarcerated person is denied parole.
There hasn't been a decision following Morganti's hearing but he could come back before the parole board between one and five years from now.
"He got life without possibility of parole, I'm hoping that it still holds true to that," O'Donnell said. "I don't believe his mind wasn't developed. It was a premeditated thing. He didn't have to pull the trigger."
More on the Massachusetts Parole Board
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