A felony drug charge against a former Burlington school board member was dropped earlier this month after a Massachusetts judge suppressed evidence gleaned from a traffic stop.
Rida Kori resigned from the school board following his 2024 arrest near the Massachusetts-Connecticut border. Massachusetts State Police began following his car during a separate drug investigation and discovered dozens of bags of suspected heroin inside.
Kori argued that the traffic stop that led officers to the cache was improper, court records show. During a hearing earlier this year, his attorney, Kedar Ismail, told a judge that officers lacked reasonable suspicion to pull over Kori or search the vehicle. He characterized the stop and search as an “egregious” violation of Kori’s civil rights.
Prosecutors in Massachusetts dropped the charge on October 2, two months after the judge agreed to suppress evidence, according to court records.
Kori directed Seven Days to his attorney for comment. Ismail did not respond to several interview requests over the course of a week.
Kori was elected to a seat on the volunteer board in spring 2024. The seat he vacated following his arrest has since been filled.
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