Judge John M. Conroy retires, credits wife for success

By Mike Donoghue
Correspondent
BURLINGTON, Vt. — As U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy began to wind down his career in Vermont, he was saluted for his ability to connect with criminal defendants, lawyers, court staff and his colleagues on the bench.

Conroy announced last June he would be retiring after 12 years as Vermont’s sole U.S. Magistrate Judge, and 22 years as a federal prosecutor.

The South Burlington resident is known for his special ability to make a personnel connection with people — especially those facing federal crimes and crossroads in their own lives.

That attempt to connect may come from his wife of almost 37 years, Sarah.

“Sarah has reminded me every day that everyone, no matter where life has taken them, has a story worth listening to,” Conroy said during his retirement reception on Zoom.

“When I reached the age of 65 last year, I said to Sarah, ‘Well, I reached the finish line.’ She responded quickly and forcefully ‘Oh no, we are just at the starting line.’”

More than 130 judges from Vermont and out-of-state, lawyers, court staff, former co-workers, law enforcers, religious leaders, media and community members attended the virtual retirement party last month.

Lasting impressionsIn his final week, Conroy, who was working with his successor, Kevin J. Doyle, had a visitor come to chambers at the U.S. District Courthouse in Burlington.

One of the biggest drug dealers in Vermont in the 1990s, the man stopped by to thank Conroy for his work. He told Conroy he was a big reason the convicted felon had turned his life around, got off drugs and now works in Burlington.

Conroy mentioned another success story at his retirement gig: He was hiking the Long Trail with his longtime Burlington friend Charlie Smith and they made it over Jay Peak on a quite cold and wet day. They headed into the Montgomery General Store to get coffee and to try to warm up.

Conroy, in hiking clothes, said he was still recognized by a “grizzled old timer” with an 18-pack of Budweiser under his arm.

“Remember me?” the man asked glaring at the judge. “You put my son in jail.”

Conroy said, after a gulp, he remembered it was for a major methamphetamine case.

The man continued, “It was the best thing that could have happened to him and our family. He’s OK now.”

Conroy said it is those success stories that always gave him the belief in the light at the end of the tunnel.

New defendants in front of Conroy were often asked about their education and employment. It wasn’t just how far they went in school: Conroy frequently asked defendants the name of the school or college, their major — he wanted to connect.

The same about a defendant’s work history. If somebody said they weren’t working, Conroy did not consider “unemployed” a job. He would ask what they were unemployed from — what was the last job they held, when and with who.

Conroy hoped the deeper conversation might ease a nervous defendant sitting in Courtroom 410 with federal marshals hovering nearby.

Conroy wanted to get to know the defendant.

After all, the magistrate is one of the most powerful people in Vermont, and as the lone occupant of the seat, Conroy was the first person in black robes most federal defendants would meet.

It was up to him to judge flight risk, whether to grant conditions of release or require the person to wait for their trial in prison.

Unlike the state court system in Vermont where release conditions are frequently violated and nothing happens to defendants, Conroy spelled it out to those arrested — if they were caught violating federal release conditions, they were likely going to get locked up until trial. This was the last chance.

Conroy also got to see defendants at the end of their criminal cases when they were leaving prison and returning to society.

He helped start the Reentry Court in Burlington, bringing about many success stories, and others with bumps in the road.

Giving creditAfter all he’s accomplished on the bench, Conroy still gives full credit for his career to his better half.

“Anything I have been able to achieve is, in large measure attributable to the professional sacrifices my spouse, Sarah, has made to allow me to pursue my career. In 1984 Sarah declined her admission to the Harvard Graduate School of Education so that I could accept the offer of employment at the Justice Department in Washington,” Conroy said.

“In 1987, she left a wonderful job as a teacher, coach and dean of students at a private school in Potomac, M.D., so that I could accept the position in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont,” Conroy said at his retirement party.

He said Sarah went on to have a wonderful career as a popular teacher and adviser at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington.

“There, I felt like Margaret Thatcher’s husband,” Conroy said.

The couple had three daughters, Emily, Molly and Laura, “each of whom are wise, compassionate and successful people,” he said.

The magistrate was called on to deliver justice on the football field as well. He was part of the three-member gang that marked the first downs on the sidelines at football games at Rice Memorial for about 10 years.

Also, Conroy got to preside as president of the Burlington Tennis Club and serve as a basketball coach in the South Burlington Recreation League.

Moving to VermontConroy had been assigned to the criminal tax division at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington when he learned of an opening as an assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont.

U.S. Attorney George Terwilliger hired Conroy, but his Washington colleagues warned him he would be bored with the kind of court cases in Vermont.

During a recent interview, Conroy said he got the last laugh.

Sitting in his fourth-floor chambers with a view of Lake Champlain, Conroy recalled his first three cases as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Vermont. One was a $6 million embezzlement case; another involved the international importation of a bomb into the United States.

The third case was the appeal of Edwin A. Towne Jr. on several federal gun charges. The high-profile case stemmed from the abduction and subsequent fatal shooting of Paulette Crickmore, a 15-year-old Richmond girl as she walked to school in September 1986.

Towne received a 70-year federal prison sentence and died last year behind bars.

“I love the drama, although (defense lawyer) Chris Davis being sucker punched by his client during a trial before Judge (Garvan) Murtha might have been too much drama,” Conroy said remembering back to the scene in Brattleboro.

“I love watching the Constitution coming alive, the due process, and opportunity for redemption.” he said.

As magistrate, Conroy also got to preside over some trials and the various appeals to federal court in Social Security cases. He was the point-person for federal investigators needing a signature for arrest warrants, search warrants and other documents — often at night and on weekends. Conroy also got to handle motions assigned by the district court judges. Just about each week sitting federal grand juries would report any new indictments to Conroy.

The job was a little bit of everything and that was what made it interesting, he said.

The move to Vermont was inspired by a trip to Great Hosmer Pond in Craftsbury when he was a senior at Northeastern University in Boston.

Conroy served as the coxswain commanding the NU crew team, which came for training up north.

“I remember it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen,” said Conroy, who grew up in Massachusetts.

As a prosecutor in Vermont, Conroy handled a significant number of drug, gun, fraud and other felonies. He also was sent to Washington for a year to serve as an assistant for U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to work on human trafficking issues.

Conroy returned to Vermont in time to learn Jerome Niedermeier, the first full time magistrate judge in Vermont, would be stepping down in 2008. Federal Judges J. Garvan Murtha and William K. Sessions III got to make the final selection and Conroy rose to the top among the applicants.

Federal Bankruptcy Judge Colleen Brown also recalled when her office was moved from Rutland to Burlington, her first email was from Conroy: “Welcome to the ‘Hood.”

Conroy also left her a treat in her chambers, she said.

Yet it was Federal Judge Christina Reiss that gave maybe the frankest assessment of Conroy’s respected work.

Reiss said she disagreed with Conroy only a few times, but in the end, she learned she was wrong. She said the few Conroy rulings she overturned were later overturned by the federal appeals court in New York City.

“He was right and I was wrong,” Reiss said with a smile. “John can read the signs.”