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Eric Spofford, former CEO of Granite Recovery Centers, was arrested over allegations of retaliating against New Hampshire Public Radio journalistsProsecutors say Spofford paid a friend $20,000 to lead a coordinated harassment campaign from March to May 2022Several men carried out acts of vandalism and intimidation, including smashing windows and spray-painting threats
The former CEO of Granite Recovery Centers was arrested Friday over allegations of stalking and orchestrating attacks on the homes of New Hampshire Public Radio journalists who published claims of sexual misconduct against him.
Eric Spofford, 40, the CEO of the New Hampshire-based network of drug and alcohol treatment centers, was accused of targeting journalists at NHPR in retaliation for an investigation they published where the NPR station allegedly revealed multiple accusations of sexual misconduct during his leadership, according to a statement by the Department of Justice.
The NHPR article, which detailed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, abusive leadership and retaliation by Spofford during his time as CEO, garnered significant local and national media attention, according to the statement.
Spofford denied the allegations and later sued the media organizations for defamation, but a New Hampshire judge dismissed his lawsuit in 2023.
Prosecutors say that from March to May 2022, Spofford devised a scheme in which he paid his close friend, Eric Labarge, $20,000 to harass and terrorize Lauren Chooljian — the journalist who wrote the article — along with her immediate family and a senior editor at NHPR.
Labarge then allegedly enlisted the help of Tucker Cockerline, Keenan Saniatan and Michael Waselchuck to carry out the stalking campaign, per the statement from the Department of Justice.
The men are accused of having vandalized the homes of Chooljian, her editor, and a house where her parents previously lived, smashing windows with rocks and bricks, The New York Times reported. One of the vandals spray-painted “Just the beginning!” on an outside wall of her home.
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All four men were previously charged and have been convicted, per the Department of Justice.
Labarge was sentenced to 46 months in prison in November 2024. Cockerline received 27 months in August 2024. Saniatan was sentenced to 30 months in September 2024 and Waselchuck received 21 months in prison that same month.
Spofford has been indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel, one count of stalking using a facility of interstate commerce and two counts of stalking through interstate travel.
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