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Boston backers to fete Richard Johnson

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Jim Smith

BOSTON — A "Welcome Home" party for Richard Johnson will be held Friday evening, Oct. 22, at Nash’s Pub in Dorchester. Johnson, the electrical engineer who was convicted in 1990 of manufacturing and exporting devices designed to blow up British Army helicopters in Northern Ireland, is scheduled to be released from a federal halfway house on Oct. 19.

Johnson, Martin Quigley and Christina Reid, known as the Boston Three, were convicted in federal court in Boston after FBI, RUC and British Military officials testified against them. Johnson, who is 51, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, double the sentence recommended by federal guidelines.

Dubbed a "political prisoner" by friends, family and attorney Alan Dershowitz, who unsuccessfully attempted to get the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, Johnson is expected to return to the home of his elderly parents on Cape Cod following his release.

In an interview with the Echo in August, Johnson said that he is exploring job opportunities in the computer industry. He will be on 36 months of supervised probation and will require special permission to travel out of state.

Supporters of Johnson are hoping that federal authorities will grant him permission to travel to New York next year for a homecoming similar to the one planned for Boston. Persons seeking more information about the Boston event can call Kay O’Brien at (617) 522-6600.

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