New Hampshire rehab center ex-CEO charged with harassment against journalist

The former CEO of a New Hampshire addiction rehab center has been federally charged with directing a harassment campaign against journalists and their families in response to negative coverage A Federal grand jury indicted Eric Spofford of Salem N H and Miami Fla on several interstate stalking-related charges In March New Hampshire Residents Radio published an article detailing charges of sexual misconduct and abusive leadership against Spofford who was a co-founder and former chief executive officer of the for-profit drug and alcohol recovery company Granite Recovery Centers Spofford himself isn t accused of participating in the harassment campaign against the reporter and her editor as well as their family members in retaliation for the description but instead tapping his close friend Eric Labarge to do the work for him In turn Labarge enlisted Tucker Cockerline Keenan Saniatan and Michael Waselchuck to carry out the campaign Federal prosecutors say that Spofford paid Labarge in cash as well as the casualties addresses and specific avenues he wished them harassed The first released instances happened in April of with Cockerline throwing a brick through the reporter s former house in Hanover N H on April He also spraypainted a four-letter derogatory word beginning with C in large red letters on the front door of the home That same day Saniatan did the same to the editor s home in Concord N H and the reporter s parent s home in Hampstead N H The campaign continued the next month first when Cockerline spraypainted that same C-word in large red letters on one of the garage doors of the reporter s parent s home and then hours later when Waselchuck targeted the reporter s new address in Melrose There he threw a brick through the window so that she would come out and see the message spray-painted in red on the side of her home This is just the beginning The Middlesex District Attorney s office issued a press release following that attack and published a SimpliSafe home surveillance recording of the frightening occurrence of the man throwing the brick As officers continued to investigate they unveiled this was an interstate campaign and federal leadership took the episode over Labarge Cockerline Saniatan and Waselchuck already went through the legal system for their dirty work starting in when they were charged and when they were sentenced as the Herald has covered Cockerline was the first to be sentenced when he was slammed with two years and three months in federal prison for his role in August Waselchuck was sentenced next that September with a year and nine months in prison Labarge was sentenced that November to three years and months and the following month Saniatan was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Courtesy U S District CourtA man later identified as Keenan Saniatan is seen in surveillance video around the time he vandalized the Hampstead New Hampshire home of the parents of an NHPR journalist Courtesy U S District Court