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Old June 2nd, 2021 #681
Gladiatrix
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Default A Pennsylvania Police Chief Resigns After Pleading Guilty to Threatening a Facebook Critic With a False Arrest

"A Pennsylvania police chief has resigned after admitting that he threatened to arrest a critic on trumped-up charges. West Hazleton Police Chief Brian Buglio, who had worked for the town's police department since 1996, pleaded guilty to violating the critic's First Amendment rights under color of law, a federal crime punishable by up to a year of imprisonment and a maximum fine of $100,000.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which charged Buglio last Friday, did not name his victim. But WNEP, the ABC station in Scranton, identified him as East Stroudsburg resident Paul DeLorenzo, who said his beef with Buglio began with Facebook posts last February. One post criticized Buglio for taking too long to make an arrest in a case involving DeLorenzo. Another post, WNEP says, "accused the chief of committing a violent crime."

That's when DeLorenzo heard from Buglio. "He called me, left me a voicemail, and said that he was going to arrest me for a crime that was being investigated for something I've never even done or had any part of," DeLorenzo told WNEP. In March, Buglio summoned him to the police station, where DeLorenzo agreed to take down his posts under threat of arrest. "I said to Brian, 'Why are you doing this?'" DeLorenzo recalled. "He goes, 'Well, you like to post fake things and fake stories about me, so I could make up a fake arrest and put you in jail.'"

DeLorenzo reported the incident to the FBI office in Scranton, which conducted an investigation that led to the federal charge against Buglio. Federal prosecutors said Buglio admitted he knew there was no legal basis to arrest DeLorenzo. He agreed to plead guilty within a few days of being charged."

https://reason.com/2021/06/02/a-penn...QepRfAbkiQ8jgY
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