EVERETT – Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria is celebrating a major legal victory against a newspaper that knowingly published false stories about him. The Everett Leader Herald, its owner and its publisher and editor, have agreed to pay DeMaria $1.1 million in damages.
As a condition of the settlement, the 139-year-old newspaper will stop publishing within seven days.
On Monday, DeMaria said at a news conference that the defendants had fabricated quotes and reporters’ notes from interviews that never took place. He said this was done to destroy his reputation and “serve their own financial interests.”
DeMaria has agreed not to proceed with the lawsuit against the Leader Herald’s owner, Matthew Philbin, and its publisher and editor, Joshua Resnek. The trial was scheduled to begin Jan. 21 in Middlesex Superior Court.
“Relentless campaign”
“These defendants began a deliberate, deliberate and ruthless campaign to publish allegations against me that they knew were false, that they knew were fabricated, that they knew were without basis, that they knew would damage my reputation would harm and cause serious harm not only to my self, but to my family,” DeMaria said.
CBS Boston
The mayor said the newspaper changed when new owners took over in 2017.
“I don’t know of a single case where a media outlet was purchased with the goal of destroying someone’s reputation, but that is exactly what happened here,” DeMaria said.
DeMaria says it nearly forced him out of office and that the financial settlement will not offset the emotional toll of the ordeal. “It wasn’t just unfair, it was corrupt,” DeMaria said.
DeMaria has lived in Everett all her life and was first elected mayor in 2007.
