Nicholas Mavroules

Mavroules was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, November 1, 1929; and graduated from Peabody High School. Nicholas was employed by GTE-Sylvania now OSRAM Sylvania, from 1949 to 1967, and served as supervisor of personnel.

He was elected a city councilor in Peabody, Massachusetts, serving from 1958 to 1965. He was elected mayor of Peabody in 1966 and served from 1967 to 1978. He was a delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention.

In 1978, he won the election to take over the seat of retiring Rep. Michael J. Harrington. After his election, an FBI informant testified that he had offered Mavroules a $25,000 bribe when he was the mayor of Peabody in connection with liquor licensing. Mavroules denied the accusations and the FBI did not charge him in the matter.[1]

In Congress, he was a longtime member of the House Armed Services Committee and was the chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations where he led the House investigation into the Navy’s findings in the deadly 1989 explosion aboard the USS Iowa.[2] He also helped expose cost overruns in the Navy’s aircraft programs.[3] He was also instrumental in making certain that the crew of USS Pueblo obtained prisoner of war status.

During the 1980s Marvoules was a leading supporter in the House for a Nuclear freeze and an opponent of the MX missile.[4]

In August 1992, a federal grand jury indicted Mavroules on 17 charges of bribery, racketeering and extortion. The allegations against him included extortion, accepting illegal gifts and failing to report them on congressional disclosure and income tax forms.[5] He survived a Democratic primary election the following month, but was defeated by Republican Peter G. Torkildsen.

In April 1993 after his departure from Congress, he pleaded guilty to 15 of the 17 counts and was sentenced to a fifteen-month prison term. He served his prison term at the Federal penitentiary at Bedford, Pennsylvania.[5]

At his sentencing, he apologized to his family "who have endured enormous, enormous pain" and to supporters and friends "for any hurt I have brought upon them".[1][6]

He died on December 25, 2003, in Salem, Massachusetts after gastric surgery.[3][1] He was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Peabody, Massachusetts. Over 6,000 people attended his wake and funeral which was held at St. Vasilios Church Greek Orthodox church in Peabody. Several members of Congress (former and current) attended the services. The eulogy at the funeral mass was offered by Rudy de Leon a former staffer who later became deputy defense secretary and vice president of Boeing. At the graveside service, another eulogy was made by local reporter and talk show host Dan Rea.

• List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes

• USS Pueblo Incident
• ABC News Report on the USS Iowa Explosion
• "Lawmaker Dogs Navy Over Iowa Inquiry"
• "Navy Finding on Iowa Blast Is Drawing Criticism", New York Times, November 5, 1989
• "House Panel Raises Concerns About Korean Fighter Deal"

• United States Congress. "Nicholas Mavroules (id: M000264)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Appearances on C-SPAN