Everett man arrested on felony charges after threatening witness in civil case on social media

By James Mitchell

Anthony P. Raymond, of Everett, was arrested by Everett Police on Wednesday morning at his job at the MBTA in Boston on two counts of intimidation of a witness – a felony – which carries a minimum sentence of two and a half years in prison on each count. The arrest warrant was filed in Malden District Court on Tuesday after Raymond allegedly posted threats to witnesses through his social media Facebook site, The Everett Reporter.

Raymond, 53, a felon, who served time for a 2004 bank robbery in Malden where he was sentenced in federal court to 11 years in prison, also served time for criminal contempt of court after refusing to testify after being granted immunity during a grand jury investigation into two arson conspiracy cases involving the Big Dog Sports Grille in North Reading. In that 2006 case Raymond was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Tuesday’s arrest was reportedly due to his alleged threatening of a witness in an ongoing civil court case. Raymond was served a subpoena and refused to appear for a deposition, causing a judge to issue a contempt of court order against him. Raymond, through his Facebook site, reportedly displayed the subpoena, allegedly mocking the court process.

It was also recently reported that Raymond displayed on the Facebook site images of himself allegedly performing martial arts on three images of the plaintiffs in the case lying on the ground, which might have been the justification for the two arrest warrants issued against him on Wednesday leading to his arrest.

Raymond, who calls himself “the Razor,” had been a constant presence at Everett School Committee and City Council meetings – along with a small group who oppose Mayor Carlo DeMaria and his administration and are vocal supporters of School Supt. Priya Tahiliani, who is now on paid administrative leave following an independent outside investigation that included a variety of allegations, including complaints of retaliatory and hostile work environments and allegations that the Human Resources Dept. for the School Dept. was not investigating complaints and issues raised by 10 school employees. Raymond, through his Facebook site, has continually mocked elected officials who oppose former mayoral candidate Fred Capone, calling himself the “captain of Team Capone” and promoting articles from the Everett Leader Herald newspaper’s editor, Joshua Resnek, who, along with the newspaper’s owner, Mathew Philbin, have admitted to publishing lies and fabrications for years in an ongoing defamation lawsuit filed by Mayor DeMaria.

It appears that Raymond crossed the line with respect to his latest postings on the Facebook page, which has now landed him back in jail.

As of Thursday’s press deadline, Raymond had been ordered by the court on Wednesday to remain in custody and ordered to appear on Thursday for a dangerousness hearing to determine if he will be granted bail.