Dangers of Climbing the Ladder
Litigation attorney Daniel Small published an article in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly that tells the story of how corruption cases can fall apart when prosecutors rely on witnesses who are themselves compromised. He focuses on George Collatos, a Boston city insider whose cooperation was supposed to help build a case against a higher‑level official. Instead, Collatos' long history of extortion, lying and repeated perjury created an unstable foundation liable to crumble in court. His credibility collapsed completely at trial when he was confronted with evidence that he had tried to sell his testimony, and the jury rejected him outright. As Mr. Small explains, Collatos' downfall shows how risky it can be to climb the ladder in corruption cases when a key witness becomes the weakest link.