Four criminal records illustrate the stakes of Healey's reelection bid

With the Massachusetts gubernatorial election scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, four recent criminal cases have drawn public attention to sentencing outcomes under Governor Maura Healey. These cases highlight a pattern of dismissed charges and short prison terms that critics argue define the current administration's approach to justice.

The timeline of these events spans several months of the current year. In one incident, Raul Feliciano, a 63-year-old Worcester resident, was charged with raping an underage girl in a Milford church basement. His record includes charges dating back to 1989, with five specific failures to register as a sex offender that were either closed or disposed of without consequence.

Khristion D. Mojica Gouveia, a Lowell man, faced new charges after allegedly slashing a victim's neck with a box cutter outside a Salvation Army building. A prosecutor described the injury as being about an inch away from murder. Gouveia had previously received probation for assault and battery on a pregnant victim earlier this year. His record also includes a dismissed charge for indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

In Lawrence, Carlos Candelario was arrested in a Tewksbury motel where two women were allegedly being held against their will. Candelario, 36, faces charges of kidnapping, identity fraud, and drug offenses. His criminal history, which began in 2007, includes a 2025 charge for trafficking in 18 to 36 grams of heroin that was dismissed.

The fourth case involves Junming Zhu, a 28-year-old Malden resident who killed a Harvard graduate on a bicycle near Memorial Drive in 2024. Seven weeks before the fatal crash, Zhu had fled a serious pre-dawn wreck in Melrose after leaving a casino in Everett. Police issued him a summons for leaving the scene rather than arresting him. At his sentencing, Zhu requested a Mandarin translator, claiming he could not speak English. The judge sentenced him to one year in prison, a duration that shocked the victim's family and friends.

The next step is the vote itself, which takes place on Tuesday. If Healey wins, she will serve a second term in office. The four cases cited by critics serve as a backdrop to the decision voters face on whether to continue her leadership or seek a change in direction.