Man paid people to vandalize homes of reporters who wrote about his ‘associate,’ feds say
A New Hampshire man pleaded guilty to his role in the harassment and intimidation of two journalists in response to an article they published in 2022, Massachusetts officials said.
Eric Labarge, 46, of Nashua, New Hampshire pleaded guilty on July 24 in a Boston federal court to charges related to conspiracy to commit stalking, according to a July 24 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts.
McClatchy News reached out to Labarge’s attorney for comment on July 25 but did not receive an immediate response.
In 2022, Labarge solicited three co-conspirators to vandalize the homes of two New Hampshire Public Radio reporters and one of their parents, officials said.
In March of that year, the reporters published an article detailing allegations of sexual misconduct by a businessperson who was a “close personal associate” of Labarge, according to officials.
Over the next two months, Labarge paid the men $1,500 to spray paint the victims’ houses with profanities and throw bricks through their windows, according to officials.
A message spray-painted in red on one of the journalist’s homes said “JUST THE BEGINNING,” according to court records.
Four properties in New Hampshire and Massachusetts were vandalized, according to officials.
Labarge and his three co-conspirators were arrested in September 2023, officials said.
His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 18.
Nashua is just over New Hampshire’s border with Massachusetts and is about a 35-mile drive south from Concord.
This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Man paid people to vandalize homes of reporters who wrote about his ‘associate,’ feds say."
