New Hampshire
Seven charged in Russian smuggling ring involving New Hampshire and New Jersey residents
![Seven charged in Russian smuggling ring involving New Hampshire and New Jersey residents Seven charged in Russian smuggling ring involving New Hampshire and New Jersey residents](https://assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/12/14/5837419f-7628-4f98-ad8c-d73cf7fae95e/thumbnail/1200x630/caa1f50774bfdb2baadd9cc49c51ba46/image-4.png)
Washington — A Russian man dwelling in New Hampshire allegedly used his Merrimack house as a “transshipment level” to smuggle American-made military-grade gear into Russia, a part of a coordinated effort to evade U.S. export legal guidelines, federal prosecutors introduced Tuesday.
Alexey Brayman is certainly one of seven defendants charged in a 16-count indictment, accused of taking part a world scheme to move American merchandise to Russia by way of international locations together with Estonia, Finland, German and Hong Kong, in violation of federal legislation.
Brayman’s codefendants embody a U.S. citizen from New Jersey, a technical director for a Moscow-based equipment firm that contracts with Russian intelligence and a Russian nationwide who as soon as lived in Brooklyn.
In response to the indictment unsealed within the Japanese District of New York, since 2017 by way of a minimum of the spring of 2022, Yevgeniy Grinin, Aleksey Ippolitov, Boris Livshits, Svetlana Skvortsova, Vadim Konoshchenok, Vadim Yermolenko, and Brayman, used shell firms, faux addresses and counterfeit delivery labels to move the gear to Russia.
The products alleged to have been smuggled embody “superior electronics and complex testing gear” for use in nuclear weapons growth and different army and space-based army purposes. Investigators say the gadgets have been repackaged and shipped from a number of “intermediate areas” as soon as they reached Europe and Asia earlier than they have been finally despatched to Russia.
Prosecutors say the defendants coordinated their efforts to interrupt U.S. export management legal guidelines that prohibit commerce with Russia, particularly legal guidelines enacted in response to the Kremlin’s invasions of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Treasury Division sanctioned two of the Russian firms on the heart of the alleged plan — Serniya and Sertal — and even focused Grinin himself, describing your entire community as “instrumental to the Russian Federation’s conflict machine.”
The pipeline described in court docket papers allegedly started with firms within the Russian protection and expertise industries making requests of Ippolitov for the American gear, and he would then hand off the orders to Grinn and Skvortsovato to safe funding.
Livshits is accused of speaking instantly with the U.S. firms, typically utilizing the alias “David Wetksy” to buy the specified military-grade gear. In a single instance, prosecutors claimed Livshits used the alias within the spring of 2022 — after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had begun — to contact an Illinois-based electronics distributor about buying a sort of electrical signal-monitoring system that’s restricted by the Commerce Division for for anti-terrorism causes.
The Russian nationwide allegedly purchased the gear, generally known as a dual-use oscilloscope, from the American firm for $25,000 and shipped it to Brayman’s New Hampshire residence. There, Brayman despatched the package deal to Hamburg, Germany. Yermolenko, who lives in New Jersey, joined Brayman in unlawfully exporting items from the U.S., in response to charging paperwork.
Investigators say Livshits — who additionally established and managed quite a few shell firms within the U.S. — did not inform the U.S. firms how the gear was for use or that Russian firms have been ready to obtain it.
In response to the indictment unsealed this month, Brayman and Livshits allegedly mentioned sending items to Russia by way of Germany “somehow.”
And as just lately as Oct. 22, Konoshchenok, a Russian nationwide dwelling in Estonioa, was stopped by police on that nation’s border with Russia, the place legislation enforcement allegedly discovered 35 sorts of semiconductors, hundreds of 6.5mm bullets initially made in Nebraska, and ammunition for sniper riffles.
Konoshchenok, a suspected Russian intelligence officer, is accused of smuggling quite a few U.S.-made items from Estonia to Russia, together with dual-use electronics, military-grade tactical ammunition and different export-controlled gadgets, the Justice Division stated.
“With three of the defendants now in custody, we’ve got disrupted the procurement community allegedly utilized by the defendants and Russian intelligence providers to smuggle sniper rifle ammunition and delicate digital parts into Russia,” Lawyer Normal Merrick Garland stated in a press release. “The Justice Division will proceed to vigorously implement our financial sanctions and export controls towards those that allow the Russian authorities to proceed its unjust conflict in Ukraine.
The investigation into the smuggling scheme was coordainated by the division’s Job Power Kleptocapture, an interagency response to Russia’s invasion of Urkaine earlier this 12 months led by Deputy Lawyer Normal Lisa Monaco.
In response to the Justice Division, Brayman surrendered to the FBI and was launched Tuesday after posting $150,000 in bond. Yermolenko was arrested in New Jersey and in addition launched on bond. Yermolenko pleaded not responsible.
Konoshchenok was taken into custody by Estonian authorities on Dec. 6 on the request of the U.S. and is now pending extradition. The opposite defendants stay at massive.
“At this stage Mr. Brayman has solely been charged, he has not been convicted of something. Like all defendants, Mr. Brayman is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” David Lazarus, his lawyer, stated in a press release on Tuesday.
Yermolenko’s public defender, Nora Hirozawa, declined to remark additional.
The pair is anticipated to be again in court docket in February.
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New Hampshire
N.H. man sentenced for conspiracy to harass and intimidate two NHPR journalists – The Boston Globe
![N.H. man sentenced for conspiracy to harass and intimidate two NHPR journalists – The Boston Globe N.H. man sentenced for conspiracy to harass and intimidate two NHPR journalists – The Boston Globe](https://bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/GNGhVhRTWD8lKHjZ60n7qKwzhG8=/506x0/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bostonglobe/2MVUICSZIPLPJM432SZAVBFIK4.jpg)
A New Hampshire man was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison last week for his involvement in the harassment and intimidation of two New Hampshire Public Radio journalists, officials said.
Tucker Cockerline, 33, of Salem, N.H., was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in the 2022 conspiracy, which included the vandalism of the homes of the reporters and one reporter’s parents with bricks, large rocks, and red spray paint on five separate occasions, the US attorney’s office said in a statement Thursday.
Cockerline was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in June 2023, and he pleaded guilty last December in federal court in Boston to conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and using a facility of interstate commerce, prosecutors said.
He was one of four men indicted in connection with the conspiracy, alongside Eric Labarge, Michael Waselchuck, and Keenan Saniatan, prosecutors said.
Labarge and Waselchuck have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Saniatan is expected to plead guilty this month, prosecutors said.
The harassment and vandalism began after one of the journalists published an article in March 2022 detailing allegations against a former New Hampshire businessperson, prosecutors said. A second NHPR journalist contributed to the article.
Though prosecutors didn’t identify the reporters or the businessperson, the case involves NHPR’s reporting on allegations of sexual misconduct against Eric Spofford, founder of Granite Recovery Centers, a network of addiction rehabilitation centers in New Hampshire, the Globe reported.
Spofford has denied the allegations and has not been charged with any crimes related to NHPR’s reporting or the harassment campaign, the Globe reported.
In 2022, after the article was published, Labarge, who officials called “a close personal associate of” the businessperson, along with Cockerline, Waselchuck, and allegedly Saniatan, “agreed to harass and intimidate” the two journalists and their immediate family members, prosecutors said.
Cockerline and Saniatan were allegedly “solicited” to commit the vandalism and harassment by Labarge, prosecutors said.
On the night of April 24, 2022, Cockerline spray-painted a vulgar term related to female anatomy in large red letters on the front door of the first journalist’s former home in Hanover, N.H., and threw a brick through a window, the statement said.
Also that night, Saniatan allegedly spray-painted the same vulgar term on the front door of the second journalist’s home in Concord, N.H., and threw a large rock at the home, prosecutors said. He then “allegedly threw a softball-sized rock” through a window and spray-painted the same word on the first journalist’s parents’ home in Hampstead, N.H., according to prosecutors.
On May 20, 2022, Cockerline spray-painted the same word on the first journalist’s parents’ home and left a brick on the ground near the front door, prosecutors said.
Several hours later, Waselchuck, who Cockerline recruited, threw a brick through a window of the first journalist’s Melrose home and left a warning reading, “JUST THE BEGINNING!” in large red letters, prosecutors said.
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Ava Berger can be reached at ava.berger@globe.com. Follow her @Ava_Berger_.
New Hampshire
Knife Fight Report Leads To Arrests On The Concord Heights
![Knife Fight Report Leads To Arrests On The Concord Heights Knife Fight Report Leads To Arrests On The Concord Heights](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/546351/20240831/044525/styles/patch_image/public/muhire-collage-082524___31163815572.jpg)
Around 6:45 p.m. on Aug. 25, Concord police were sent to the Concord Gardens apartment complex for a report of a fight involving a knife. The tipster quickly disconnected from 911 after issuing the report, so there was little information available, a detective wrote in an affidavit.
As officers arrived, they learned the incident was close by, in the parking lot of the Lamplighter Plaza on Loudon Road. Several people were still in the rear area of the lot. When the detective arrived, they recognized two men — Emmanuel Muhire, 34, a homeless man, and the victim, a man in his mid-30s. The detective wrote the victim accused Muhire of assaulting him earlier in the evening, at the same location.
A third man, Abel Dusabimana, 39, was in handcuffs due to an active bench warrant. An officer told the detective Dusabimana had possession of the knife during the altercation, the affidavit stated. The knife, the detective noted, was now on the ground near the area of the fight.
The detective stated Muhire had “a large scrape” on his forearm. Fire and rescue teams arrived and applied a bandage to his arm.
Bystanders, however, told the detective Dusabimana was “not the primary aggressor in the altercation.” One witness accused Muhire of “swinging a stick” against Dusabimana, pressing his body against and grabbing onto him, the report said.
A witness provided cellphone video of the incident to the officer the detective watched.
The detective said the video clips showed Muhire holding a stick and swinging it “like a sword in a rapid manner,” the affidavit said. The victim was heard saying “police” several times while lifting his shirt, showing the injury from the prior altercation. Muhire then was seen snapping the stick in half and throwing it to the ground, the detective wrote, but then postured “as if he was about to engage in an altercation.” The report stated he took off his sunglasses, threw them aside, and took off his sandals.
Dusabimana then appeared “to brandish a knife” and chased Muhire a short distance, the report stated. Muhire then fell, Dusabimana kicked him twice, and then walked away, the detective stated. Dusabimana then walked away with the victim. The victim was seen holding a snow shovel later.
Muhire then began to posture again and came “within inches of Abel,” the report said. Dusabimana then pushed him away and Muhire “aggressively reengages Abel and grabbed his right arm,” the affidavit said.
Dusabimana, the detective wrote, appeared to be creating distance from Muhire even though he continued to posture and approach him.
The detective said, since the parking lot incident was the second fight involving Muhire that evening, he was arrested on simple assault, disorderly conduct, and criminal threatening charges. He requested bail but was held on preventative detention. The detective said, despite having $72, Muhire refused to pay the bail commissioner. Muhire was scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 26 in Concord District Court.
Previously, Muhire has been arrested about a dozen times since 2016 on disorderly conduct, criminal threatening, resisting, assault, trespass, stalking, false imprisonment, domestic violence, driving after revocation or suspension, conduct after an accident, operating without a valid license charges, and a vehicle registration violation.
Dusabimana has previously been arrested on drunken driving twice, driving after revocation or suspension, and operating without a valid license charges as well as a parks ordinance violation.
The victim has previously been arrested on domestic violence, conduct after an accident, simple assault, aggravated driving under the influence, endangering the welfare of a child, stalking, operating without a valid license, resisting, driving after revocation or suspension, breach of bail, and warrants.
Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.
New Hampshire
Here's When NASCAR Returns To New Hampshire In 2025
![Here's When NASCAR Returns To New Hampshire In 2025 Here's When NASCAR Returns To New Hampshire In 2025](https://nesn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/New-Hampshire-Motor-Speedway.jpg)
NASCAR released the 2025 Cup Series season schedule on Thursday. The most significant addition is the June 15 race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, which will bring the series to international territory.
The 38-race slate has notable changes at the beginning and end of the season. NASCAR kicks off 2025 with the preseason Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Feb. 2 for the first time in 54 years.
A return to our racing roots! The 2025 schedule is here! pic.twitter.com/PRgPXVGA4R — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 29, 2024
A historic event in Mexico City!
A new-look #NASCARPlayoffs!
New England fans will have to wait until September for Cup Series action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). NASCAR will no longer feature a summer race on the “Magic Mile.” However, the famous track will kick off the Round of 12 on Sept. 21.
“First of all, having a NASCAR race any time of the year is a very big deal with the best American motorsport racers in the world racing at your speedway, but to have one in the playoffs just adds a little more excitement and energy to that particular race,” NHMS executive vice president and general manager David McGrath said, per a transcript provided by the track. “I think certainly being in NewHampshire in the middle of the summer is a wonderful time to be in the Granite State, but there is something about the fall as the weather starts to cool down and the leaves start to turn that makes New Hampshire Motor Speedway an ideal place to have a race — a playoff race in September 2025.”
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McGrath continued: “While any date’s a great date, having one in the playoffs just adds that energy and that extra excitement, and quite frankly, race fans will notice because these racers will be getting after it in the first race of the Round of 12 to see who can punch their way to the Round of 8, so New Hampshire Motor Speedway will play a very big part in determining the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship.”
New Hampshire returns to the postseason for the first time since 2017, joining Kansas and the Charlotte road race to round out the quarterfinals. After being the regular-season finale this year, Darlington will open the 2025 playoffs on Aug. 31. The championship race in 2025 remains at Phoenix on Nov. 2.
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