Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 5/24/2022
HOLYOKE – Ward 2 City Councilor Wilmer E. Puello-Mota was arrested on May 11 in connection with a case in Rhode Island in which he is charged with forgery, counterfeiting and obstruction of the judicial system.
Puello-Mota stands accused of trying to deceive prosecutors and his commanders in the Massachusetts Air National Guard in an apparent attempt to avoid a stronger sentence on a possession of child pornography charge and keep his job as a military security forces officer. He was arrested by Massachusetts State Police on a fugitive of justice warrant on Falcon Drive near Westfield-Barnes Air National Guard Base where he is an active duty member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s Security Forces.
Documents provided by the Rhode Island Judiciary allege that Puello-Mota misled one of his commanders in January regarding the nature of the child pornography charges and recently forged a memo of support from a commanding officer while also having someone pose as another commanding officer to speak with a prosecutor on his behalf.
Puello-Mota was arraigned in Westfield District Court on the fugitive from justice charge and was being held without right to bail until his next court date on May 25, after press time. According to Hampden District Attorney’s Office spokesperson James Leydon, Puello-Mota signed a waiver and was expected to be extradited to Rhode Island to face the charges against him there.
Rhode Island prosecutors charged Puello-Mota with possession of child pornography after police in Warwick, RI, allegedly discovered sexually explicit photos and videos of a 17-year-old girl on his phone in 2020 during the course of an investigation into a larceny. The 17-year-old girl pictured told police that Puello-Mota was her “sugar daddy” and they had met on a website called seekingarrangements.com, according to court documents. She told investigators Puello-Mota had sent her payments through Venmo in exchange for explicit photos and videos.
Puello-Mota told police he first thought she was 22, but later learned of her real age, according to the court documents.
Puello-Mota pleaded not guilty to the felony charge in January 2021, was released on bail and was working with his lawyers to have the case diverted or converted to an offense that would not require him to register as a sex offender, according to court documents. State prosecutors were open to the requests, provided that Puello-Mota met certain conditions, including that he prove that his supervisors in the Massachusetts Air National Guard knew about the charge and supported his continued service, the records say.
The most recent charges – forgery, counterfeiting and the obstruction of the courts – resulted from Puello-Mota’s alleged attempts to deceive both prosecutors in Rhode Island and his commanders to achieve this end.
According to the Warwick Police Department arrest warrant issued on May 10, Puello-Mota’s attorney sent Rhode Island prosecutors a memo on “Department of Air Force” letterhead that contained the digital signature of Puello-Mota’s immediate military supervisor, Technical Sgt. Steven Kelliher, the court records allege. That memo stated Puello-Mota was fully qualified to continue his duties as a Security Forces member and was being considered for deployment pending a positive outcome of his case in Rhode Island.
The warrant alleges that Special Assistant Attorney General Arthur DeFelice then asked for contact information through which he could speak directly with Puello-Mota’s supervisors and received a phone number purportedly for Maj. Samuel Bath. DeFelice spoke a person claiming to be Bath who said the military wished to retain Puello-Mota if the case was resolved favorably. DeFelice also asked for Bath’s email and sent Bath an email immediately.
Shortly after, Massachusetts Air National Guard Staff Judge Advocate Lt. Col. Chris Ruscio contacted DeFelice after Bath had forwarded DeFelice’s email to him. DeFelice, Ruscio and Bath conducted a conference call during which DeFelice “noticed that the real Maj. Bath was a different person than he just spoke with,” according to the complaint.
Additionally, on May 5, Kelliher told prosecutors in a statement that he never provided any written documents for Puello-Mota. In fact, he alleged, after receiving a call from a Rhode Island judge inquiring about Puello-Mota’s military service, he asked Puello-Mota about “any criminal problems in Rhode Island.” Puello-Mota responded that the charges were fabricated as part of a research program in which he was participating to “examine how a service member progresses through the criminal justice system.”
DeFelice also showed Bath the memo that was purportedly from Kelliher and Bath determined that the signature on the document allegedly produced by Puello-Mota used his access to the Air Force Security Forces daily call log to copy Kelleher’s digital signature and apply it to the memo.
Puello-Mota, 26, was elected to the Holyoke City Council in November. City Council President Todd McGee told Reminder Publishing the City Council had no recourse at this time.
“We’ve been made aware of everything, however, since it’s so new, nothing has come before us to take any action or do anything,” McGee said.
He said the next steps are to let the authorities do their job and perform their due diligence before providing to the council everything they have. McGee did add the City Council does not have the power to remove a member, however, he believed there is a provision in the charter that if a councilor is convicted of a felony, they are automatically removed from their seat.
McGee said he is waiting for legal counsel to come back with that information and more on how to handle these situations but as of now they will be letting everyone do their jobs before being informed accordingly and going from there.
Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia said, “We are aware of the allegations. And we have faith in the justice system. I suggest we let the authorities do their jobs and that we refrain from judgement.”