I-Team

by Kathy Curran
(WBZ) Quick action after an exclusive I-Team investigation uncovers door to door sales crews that are compromising your safety. The I-Team found crew members with criminal records doing a lot more than selling magazines. Kathy Curran has been working with the I-Team and has the latest on what's being done to keep you safe.

Donna Peltier-Saxe, Marblehead: "It made me extremely fearful, it went from an experience where I thought I was helping someone change his life to being really frightened."

Donna Peltier-Saxe says a good deed went bad when she realized a convicted murderer was knocking at her door.

Donna Peltier-Saxe, Marblehead: "He told me he was selling magazines, part of a re-education program."

Steven Shores showed up at her Marblehead home hawking magazines. Shores was making a living traveling door to door after serving time for murder.

Donna Peltier-Saxe, Marblehead: "I found out later in the day when police came to my door that he had a conviction history."

Representative Cleon Turner: "Every resident has the right to say I don't want you on my property, I don't want you knocking on my door."

The I-Team's investigation into magazine sales crews has prompted state representative Cleon Turner and other lawmakers to take action. We found magazine crew members wanted for rape, arrested for assault, armed robbery, and even murder hitting the streets across the state.

Police say when crews are at work, there's usually a spike in crime.

Lt. Jim Pierce, Winchester Police Department: "They're literally walking through your neighborhoods picking and choosing their targets."

That's why lawmakers drafted legislation to prevent people like this from landing at your door.

Right now there is a state law regulating door to door solicitors but it's outdated and difficult to enforce. The proposed legislation would force crews to register with police, there would be mandatory background checks and it would allow you to sign up for a do not knock list that would prevent sales crews from knocking on your door.

Representative Cleon Turner: "This would not be the government infringing on the right to walk down the street and knock on doors to sell magazines, it would provide the homeowner the right to say I don't want you here."

Donna Peltier-Saxe, Marblehead: "If there's anything to protect the people of Massachusetts, I think it should be done."

Federal investigators say the crew members making the sales pitch may also need protection. Many are recruited from inner city neighborhoods across the country.

Ray Stammps, Crew Member: "I'm from Baltimore, Maryland."

Donquetta Dixon, Crew Member: "I'm originally from Cleveland, Ohio."

Lt. Walter Carroll, Concord, NH Police Department: "They're out there trying to recruit kids they can manipulate to work the way they want them to work.

And Police say in some cases, promises are made but very few are kept. The I-Team has learned the U-S Attorney's office in NH and the FBI are investigating whether some crew members are victims themselves.

Mark Zuckerman, U. S. Attorney: "We're really talking about people lured in by the promise of good treatment, good money, and when they get the job, they find out the money is not there, the living conditions are not what they thought it would be and they're not allowed to leave.

The spokesperson for the magazine sales industry says what we found isn't typical of how sales crews operate and says companies do what they can to make sure kids working with them aren't exploited. As far as the "do not knock" legislation, Representative Turner expects to file that next month.

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