"I want to see him cooperate with justice in order to get a smaller sentence," said Delira, a fan of Haitian newscaster Jean Bernadeau.

Apparently, Jean Bernadeau continues to deny the fact that he has been charged with 27 counts of larceny and forgery, and acts out the show of a normal life. But behind the scenes, his criminal defense attorney Mark David Sullivan of East Cambridge is leading an extensive battle in Post Office Square to prepare his trial scheduled in the spring of 2000 at the Suffolk Superior Court.

Jean Bernadeau cruises in and out of his Webster Street home several times a day behind the wheel of his expensive jeep, playing loud Haitian music. He is often observed chanting and dancing while working in his restaurant on River Street and he was recently seen driving his taxi to give the appearance of a hard working man.

According to a public record, on July 16, Jean Bernadeau, through his private counsel, filed with the Suffolk Superior Court a motion for discovery and exculpatory in an attempt to clear the charges of larceny and forgery brought against him by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A source close to Jean Bernadeau reported that before this motion was filed a group of Haitian voodoo practitioners led by a man identified only as Gangan Daizi, organized a voodoo event on his behalf. Noting that the original voodoo rules exclude all criminals including murderers, thieves and swindlers.

On September 8, 1999, the Commonwealth filed its response to Bernadeau’s request for discovery and with it presented a very impressive package of evidence. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts claimed that Jean Bernadeau 37, of Hyde Park, MA, stole nearly $500,000 from the Boston Visiting Nurses Association, a non-profit organization that provides home health care to the elderly and disabled persons, most of which is covered by Medicare. But Bernadeau categorically denies these accusations.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts gathered evidence that Bernadeau had somehow obtained a large amount of vouchers and fabricated signatures to collect thousands of dollars in illegal taxi fares. However, state and private investigators working on that case so far have not been able to trace one dollar of these allegedly stolen funds. Jean Bernadeau seems to have proven to be more intelligent than the stupid little crook that the mainstream media rushed to portray him as a few month ago, or perhaps he is surrounded by a few wise guys who know how to steal and fool police.

In the meantime, the taxpayers of the Commonwealth, especially Medicare recipients, wish that the police and the community would work together in hopes of recovering at least part of this money. But there is a massive block of silence encircling this case. It seems that no one is willing to come forward to speak out, even Boston VNA staff members appear to be very cautious in terms of releasing information. If there is any reason to believe that Bernadeau is directly connected to this crime, there is also some ambiguity on how he happened to obtain all of these vouchers. Many are left with the impression that he must have had an accomplice. This accomplice is likely to be one of these Irish girls who were in charge of the vouchers. One of them mysteriously resigned sometime in 1995 just after she was promoted to a position of field coordinator. One of Bernadeau’s girlfriend’s who is a very suspicious character and who held the position of placement coordinator had also resigned.

Investigators are still looking at the businesses and organizations where there is an indication that Bernadeau’s money may be involved. Another area that is being checked out for possible evidence is the probability that the money left the country through Haitian agencies that wire money to Haiti.

Bernadeau’s largest investment looks to be seven thousands dollars that he spent last year in Computer Learning Center located in Somerville for a six month training program that he successfully completed last spring. Evidently, Bernadeau live as a middle class snob but technically he is relatively poor.

With all consideration, Bernadeau is not believed to be another victim of racial profiling as he pretended. According to a civil rights lawyer who spoke to the Boston Connection on condition of anonymity, Assistant District Attorney Phillip L. Weiner is a very loyal, fair and honest person who is best known for his commitment to justice and his professional ethics. The lawyer continued to say that he believes the evidence in this case links Bernadeau to the crime.