The former CEO of Granite Recovery Centres was arrested Friday on charges of stalking and plotting attacks on the homes of New Hampshire Public Radio journalists who exposed allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Eric Spofford, 40, CEO of the New Hampshire-based network of drug and alcohol treatment centres, was accused of targeting journalists at NHPR in retaliation for an investigation they published in which the NPR station allegedly revealed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct under his leadership.
The NHPR piece, which outlined many allegations of sexual misconduct, abusive leadership, and retribution by Spofford throughout his tenure as CEO, received significant local and national media attention, according to the statement.
Spofford rejected the charges and eventually sued the media outlets for defamation, but a New Hampshire judge dismissed his case in 2023.
Prosecutors allege that from March to May 2022, Spofford developed a plot in which he paid his close friend, Eric Labarge, $20,000 to harass and terrorise Lauren Chooljian, the journalist who published the piece, her immediate family, and an NHPR senior editor.
Labarge then reportedly enlisted the assistance of Tucker Cockerline, Keenan Saniatan, and Michael Waselchuck to carry out the stalking campaign, according to a Department of Justice statement.
The guys are accused of vandalising Chooljian’s and her editor’s residences, as well as a house where her parents previously lived, smashing windows with rocks and stones, the New York Times reported. One of the vandals spray-painted “Just the Beginning!” on the outer wall of her house.
The four men were previously accused and convicted, according to the Department of Justice.
Labarge received a 46-month prison sentence in November 2024. Cockerline received 27 months in August 2024. In September 2024, Saniatan was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Waselchuck received 21 months.
Spofford has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel, one count of stalking utilising an interstate commerce facility, and two charges of stalking during interstate travel.
