Current:Home > InvestFormer Massachusetts school superintendent pleads guilty to sending threatening texts-LoTradeCoin
Former Massachusetts school superintendent pleads guilty to sending threatening texts
View Date:2024-12-24 00:34:08
CHICOPEE, Mass. (AP) — The former superintendent of the Chicopee Public Schools in Massachusetts pleaded guilty Tuesday to lying to federal agents investigating 99 threatening text messages sent to a candidate for police chief in 2021, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Lynn Clark, 53, of Belchertown, pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni has scheduled sentencing for April 30.
Chicopee, a city of about 55,000 residents roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Boston, was in the process of hiring a new police chief in December 2021 when law enforcement received a report that a candidate for the job had received texts from unknown numbers that seemed intended to force them to withdraw, prosecutors said.
The candidate pulled their application, and the city delayed the selection process. Clark was charged in April, 2022 and removed from her duties as superintendent a few weeks later.
Investigators said about 99 threatening messages threatening “reputational harm” were sent from fictitious phone numbers purchased through a mobile app. Phone and internet records revealed the numbers were purchased by Clark and that the accounts sent each of the threatening messages.
Investigators said Clark falsely said she received threatening text messages from unknown phone numbers, when, in fact, she sent the messages to herself.
She also falsely named other city workers who she felt may be responsible for sending the messages, according to prosecutors. They said Clark also denied that she had downloaded a mobile app with which she purchased the fictitious phone numbers to send the messages.
Clark later admitted that she sent the messages and downloaded the app, prosecutors said.
The charges of making false statements each carry a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to one year of supervised release, and a fine of up to $10,000.
veryGood! (498)
Related
- After years of unrest, Commanders have reinvented their culture and shattered expectations
- Lori Vallow Case: Idaho Mom Indicted on New Murder Conspiracy Charge
- What's closed and what's open on Juneteenth 2023
- These Genius Amazon Products Will Help You Pack for Vacation Like a Pro
- Monument erected in Tulsa for victims of 1921 Race Massacre
- Mass killers practice at home: How domestic violence and mass shootings are linked
- Hawaii, California Removing Barrier Limiting Rooftop Solar Projects
- Michigan man arrested for planning mass killing at synagogue
- Judge recuses himself in Arizona fake elector case after urging response to attacks on Kamala Harris
- This Week in Clean Economy: Chu Warns Solyndra Critics of China’s Solar Rise
Ranking
- Princess Kate to host annual Christmas carol service following cancer treatment
- What worries medical charities about trying to help Syria's earthquake survivors
- Q&A: Denis Hayes, Planner of the First Earth Day, Discusses the ‘Virtual’ 50th
- Pay up, kid? An ER's error sends a 4-year-old to collections
- Black, red or dead: How Omaha became a hub for black squirrel scholarship
- Uh-oh. A new tropical mosquito has come to Florida. The buzz it's creating isn't good
- Q&A: 50 Years Ago, a Young Mother’s Book Helped Start an Environmental Revolution
- Facing floods: What the world can learn from Bangladesh's climate solutions
Recommendation
-
'Climate change is real': New York parks employee killed as historic drought fuels blazes
-
EPA’s Methane Estimates for Oil and Gas Sector Under Investigation
-
‘Essential’ but Unprotected, Farmworkers Live in Fear of Covid-19 but Keep Working
-
Exxon Loses Appeal to Keep Auditor Records Secret in Climate Fraud Investigation
-
Oprah Winfrey denies being paid $1M for Kamala Harris rally: 'I was not paid a dime'
-
Blinken arrives in Beijing amid major diplomatic tensions with China
-
Volunteer pilots fly patients seeking abortions to states where it's legal
-
Remember the Titans Actor Ethan Suplee Reflects on 250-Pound Weight Loss Journey