Salem man sentenced to two years in prison for harassment of NHPR journalists
A Salem, New Hampshire man was sentenced to more than two years in prison, and three years of supervised release, for his role in a conspiracy to stalk two New Hampshire Public Radio journalists, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts.
Tucker Cockerline, 33, pleaded guilty in a Boston federal court in December to “conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and using a facility of interstate commerce.”
He was part of a group of New Hampshire men who vandalized the journalists’ homes, and one of their parent’s homes, throwing bricks and large rocks through windows and writing threatening messages in red spray paint, according to prosecutors.
Cockerline was arrested in June 2023 and indicted in September along with Eric Labarge, Michael Waselchuck and Keenan Saniatan. Labarge and Waselchuck have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Saniatan is due in court on Sept. 5 and expected to plead guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The case stems from an article published in March 2022 by NHPR journalist Lauren Chooljian. She detailed allegations of sexual assault and harassment by the founder of New Hampshire’s largest network of addiction treatment centers, Eric Spofford. Following the story, Chooljian’s home in Melrose, Massachusetts, her former home in New Hampshire, as well as the homes of her parents and her editor, Dan Barrick, were vandalized on five separate occasions.
Prosecutors say that Labarge was a close friend of Spofford, and that Labarge allegedly solicited Cockerline to vandalize Chooljian’s parents’ home and her home. Cockerline then allegedly solicited Waselchuck to help. On May 20, 2022, Cockerline spraypainted a swear on Chooljian’s parents’ house and left a brick near the door. Hours later, prosecutors allege Waselchuck threw a brick through a window of Chooljian’s Melrose home and wrote “JUST THE BEGINNING” in red spray paint on the front of the house.
Spofford sued Chooljian, Barrick, another NHPR journalist and the station itself for defamation in 2022 following the publication of the story. The suit also named sources quoted in the story. The case was dismissed after a New Hampshire judge ruled that the suit lacked evidence.
NHPR’s investigation and subsequent podcast, The 13th Step, which also touches on the legal case and the vandalism, have won a series of awards. The project was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize earlier this year and earned earned a duPont-Columbia Award and a national Edward R. Murrow Award.
— Katie Cole/WBUR
Program seeks to deter young adult offenders from crime
What could happen for some young people convicted of crimes if they had a pathway out of recidivism? For several stakeholders in Hillsborough County’s criminal justice system, the hope is that Young Adults Court is the answer.
Now approximately two years old, the program served as the topic this month’s community discussion at the Manchester Police Department’s Michael Briggs Public Safety Building on Wednesday.
Patrick Ives of the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office led a presentation on the program, which seeks to assist certain criminal offenders under the age of 25 from avoiding a lifetime in and out of New Hampshire’s correctional system.
Ives told the assembled audience on Wednesday that the program currently has 10 participants and could potentially reach a total of 25 with adequate grant funding for a full-time probational officer. The program is open to young adults who have been sentenced with a crime serious enough to warrant attention but not so serious that their potential probation could endanger the community. In theory, Ives believed that the ideal candidates for this program were likely young adults on the edge of gang activity, children of adult criminals that could use a different atmosphere, or young adults who act tougher than they actually are.
The program is designed in a manner comparable to the drug court and mental health court systems, where compliance with a prescribed and detailed oversight regimen designed to get an offender back on track can result in reduced penalties and added support for the participant. Ives said that in the case of the Young Adults Court, offenders with a felony can get their sentence reduced to a misdemeanor quicker than usual, which can help with securing jobs and other lost rights. Some participants even received gift cards for good behavior and Ives shared the success story of one participant with a firearms charge that turned around his life and is on track to a six-figure job at a shipyard. In contrast, participants that do not comply the regimen can receive admonishment, electronic monitoring, community service or be sent to jail for day-long periods.
Currently the program is focused on Manchester residents, but is open to any participants with available transportation to Manchester. Ives noted that participants in the program are likely to make mistakes and in no situation would any participant be allowed to endanger the public, but the hope is that with cooperation with organizations like the Manchester Police Department, MyTurn and others, some young people not yet fully trapped within the system can escape it and lead productive lives.
“Really for us at the end of the day, if this will keep young men and women alive and prevent gun violence, that’s a win,” said Manchester Police Department Chief Allen Aldenberg.
— Andrew Sylvia/Manchester InkLink
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