Crime

Judge Orders Haverhill Political Message Stop Sign Vandal to Pay for Damage

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Joshua Pelletier, the Atkinson, N.H., man arrested last July and charged with defacing 42 stops signs with political messages throughout Haverhill’s downtown, pleaded guilty Tuesday,

The 32-year-old was placed on probation for three years and ordered to pay $14,405 in restitution, according to an administrator in the Haverhill District Court Clerk’s office. Pelletier appeared before Judge Susan H. McNeil and pleaded guilty to 35 of the 42 counts of destruction/defacing property as well as resisting arrest and assault. At the prosecutor’s request, charges of attempting to commit a crime, carrying a dangerous weapon, trespass and use of body armor in a felony were dropped along with the seven of the stop sign charges. According to the police complaint, Pelletier spray painted a series of messages which used the existing word “Stop” to start political phrases. “(Stop) Blaming the Drugs HPD killed Gigga” was one, relaying anti-police sentiment in the aftermath of the death of Francis P. Gigliotti III while in police custody. Other phrases were “(Stop) Crooked Cops,” “(Stop) Government Thugs,” “(Stop) Medicaid Cuts” and “(Stop) Killer Cops.”

Local police detectives said in a police report Pelletier was found with stencils and a can of white spray paint.

Crime

DA Tucker Reports Returning $20K to Victims of Cryptocurrency ATM Scams

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Three victims who were defrauded a total of $20,000 were able to get their money back last Friday. Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker’s office said the money was recovered during Cryptocurrency ATM scam investigations last year. “Thanks to the quick thinking and diligent work of local police in Middleton, Lynnfield and Andover, as well as our partners at NESPIN (New England State Police Information Network) and several investigators and assistant district attorneys on our staff, these attempted scams were thwarted,” Tucker said. “Due to the decentralized nature of this technology and the rapid pace at which many companies collect cash, these outcomes are often, sadly, not possible.”

In one scam, Tucker’s office said, a man in his 60s from Andover was convinced to send a scammer approximately $12,000 via a Bitcoin Depot ATM machine in New Hampshire. While logged in to his Facebook account, the man received a message saying his account was “compromised” and he was given a telephone number to call phony federal agents to fix the problem.

Crime

Haverhill Man, 28, Faces Wire Fraud Charges in Alleged $350K Cryptocurrency Scheme

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A 28-year-old Haverhill man allegedly twice lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency investments and mislead his clients. Luciano Schipelliti was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston with fraudulently obtaining $350,000 in investor money. He was charged with wire fraud and agreed to plead guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor on a date to be set by the Court. According to U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley’s office, Schipelliti established the Superstars Fund during the fall of 2018 and raised roughly $275,000 to invest in cryptocurrency. “By 2019, through a series of bad investments, Schipelliti allegedly lost all the money in the Superstars Fund.

Crime

Lawrence Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Charges; Stems From Methuen Investigation

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A 31-year-old Lawrence man pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston on drug-related charges following an investigation that began last summer in Methuen. Joshua Morales pleaded guilty to possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for June 12. In a statement, Methuen police said, the department worked last August in conjunction with a federal task force conducting an investigation into a narcotics operation in the city. “As a result of the investigation, police conducted a search of a home in Methuen that was an alleged drug distribution and manufacturing location.

Crime

Judge Sends Haverhill Man, Charged in Haverhill Restaurant Stabbings, to Prison

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A 38-year-old man, charged in last year’s “random and unprovoked” stabbing of two at a downtown Haverhill restaurant, is going to prison for at least seven and a half years after pleading guilty Tuesday. Brian Scrooc of Haverhill, pleaded guilty to armed assault with intent to murder on a person over age 60 and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over age 60 before Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman in Essex County Superior Court. She sentenced him to not less than seven and one-half years and not more than 10 years in prison on the first charge, followed by three years of probation on the other two charges. The incident took place April 26, last year, at Mark’s Deli, in Railroad Square. Seven residents were later honored by Mayor Melinda E. Barrett for actions they took to wrestle Scrooc to the ground and protect other patrons.

Crime

Federal Judge Sends Haverhill Man to Prison for Seeking Sex with Minor Girl

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A 43-year-old Haverhill man was recently sentenced to seven years in federal prison and five years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Arthur Picanco was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Samantha D. Elliott in Concord, N.H. He was accused of driving on Nov. 14, 2024 to Manchester, N.H., after having arranged to pay $100 to have sex with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations in New England said, “Picanco actively chose to pursue a child. He believed he was chatting with a trafficker offering him a chance to assault a child for a fee and he made deliberate choices to make it happen.

Crime

Jurors Find Man Guilty of First-Degree Murder of North Andover Woman Nearly 4 Decades Ago

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Jurors in Essex County Superior Court Tuesday found a 66-year-old man guilty of murdering a 20-year-old Salem State student from North Andover near 40 years ago. John Carey was found guilty of first-degree murder following an investigation that concluded Carey’s DNA on the black tank top shirt used to strangle Claire Gravel in 1986. “What he left behind was his genetic blueprint on the murder weapon,” Deputy First Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella told the jury during closing arguments Monday before Judge Jeffrey T. Karp in Essex County Superior Court in Lawrence. According to previous releases from the district attorney’s office, on June 29, 1986, Gravel went to Major Magleashes’ Pub on Washington Street in Salem with friends. She was last seen alive between 1:30 and 1:45 a.m. the next morning being dropped off at her apartment on Loring Avenue in Salem.

Crime

Plaistow, NH, Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Being a Felon in Possession of Firearms

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A Plaistow, N.H., man, previously convicted of a felony, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court for unlawfully possessing two firearms and faces sentencing in June. U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan said Jonathan Balamotis, 34, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante. “Despite being a convicted felon for serious offenses, the defendant chose to disregard the law and is now being held accountable for his actions,” said Creegan in a release. Balamotis was previously sentenced to two to four years in New Hampshire State Prison for arson and second-degree assault. After he was sentenced, the U.S. attorney’s office said, he had nine probation violations. Balamotis was sentenced to another felony in 2015 for possession of a Class A drug and convicted again in 2017 of the same charge in Massachusetts.