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Second suspect pleads guilty to intimidation of New Hampshire Public Radio employees

The four men allegedly vandalized the homes of two journalists who reported a story about a businessman accused of sexual misconduct.

A New Hampshire journalist’s house was vandalized after she reported on allegations of sexual misconduct against the founder of the state’s largest network of addiction recovery centers. Lauren Chooljian via The New York Times

By Adora Brown

1 minute to read

A second suspect pleaded guilty this week to the intimidation of New Hampshire journalists in 2022, making him the second of four people accused to potentially face fines, incarceration, or both. 

According to police, Eric Labarge, Tucker Cockerline, Michael Waselchuck, and Keenan Saniatan conspired to intimidate two public radio journalists. 

Michael Waselchuck, 36, is the most recent of the group to plead guilty, while Cockerline pleaded guilty in Dec. 2023. 

According to the district attorney’s office, the journalists were targeted after publishing a story about a New Hampshire businessman accused of sexual misconduct. One of the accused, Labarge, is allegedly “a close personal associate” of the accused businessman. 

Previously:

In 2022, the four men were accused of intimidating two journalists by vandalizing their homes and their family’s homes with expletives and threats such as “JUST THE BEGINNING.” They were indicted in fall of 2023.

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Waselchuck pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and the use of a facility of interstate commerce. 

Waselchuck is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10 before U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani. Each charge in the indictment carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. 

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