Special agent in charge of FBI Boston Division announces retirement

BOSTON — The special agent who has led the FBI Boston Division over the last handful of years is retiring after a 27-year career working within the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

SAC Joseph R. Bonavolonta has overseen all FBI operations in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island since January 2019. He has also served as the Director of National Intelligence’s representative for the New England region.

“I have spent the last 27 years of my life with the FBI, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t trade in a single day. As many of you know, I was raised in an FBI family with my father having served 24 years as a Special Agent in this organization, and there is no doubt watching the way he went about doing his job cultivated my desire to follow in his footsteps. I have always considered myself lucky to have been able to carry on the legacy he set, and I have never taken it for granted one single day,” SAC Bonavolonta wrote in a letter announcing his retirement to the Boston Division. “I have had many positive assignments throughout my career but serving all of you as Special Agent in Charge has been one of the most rewarding. Simply put, it is time to devote more time to the people who have made the most sacrifices on my behalf, and that is my family, and I look forward to pursuing new endeavors in the private sector.”

Bonavolonta first joined the FBI in May 1996 as an investigative specialist in New York. Over the years, he investigated many high-profile individuals, including the Bonanno La Cosa Nostra Family.

His permanent replacement will be appointed by Director Christopher Wray at a later date.

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