Friends In Low Places
On February 10, 2023, Mark Hayward published an article in the Union Leader, Officer resigns to avoid prosecution for looking up plate of a motorcycle his wife was passenger on.
The article highlighted an agreement the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office reached with former Franconia police officer, Gary Pilotte.
On August 31, 2022, the NH AG’s office was notified of allegations involving Pilotte’s misuse of the State Police On-Line Telecommunications System (SPOTS) following a 2018 off-duty incident, according to the press release from Attorney General John M. Formella. (See #receipts)
The AG investigated and reviewed the allegation, and determined Pilotte violated RSA 260:14, IX(a), RSA 638:17, IV(a), and RSA 643:1 by querying the number plate of a vehicle in SPOTS to obtain and use information about the registered owner for an improper purpose, according to AG Formella.
Formella’s press release goes on to outline the agreement reached with Pilotte in lieu of filing criminal charges against him. Pilotte has resigned his position with the Franconia Police Department, and further agreed to the following:
Pilotte will voluntarily surrender his certification as a law enforcement officer in the State of NH, and, as a result of his decertification, he will be placed on a national registry of decertified officers.
Pilotte will not seek future employment as a law enforcement officer, including, but not limited to, in any federal, state, county, municipal, university, or tribal law enforcement agency.
Pilotte will not contest his placement on the State of New Hampshire’s Exculpatory Evidence Schedule (EES).
Pilotte will not have any contact with the registered owner of the number plate querid in this matter for a period of two (2) years.
Hayward’s article from February 10, 2023, points out this is the second announcement from the AG in the past two months in which a police officer has avoided prosecution by agreeing to resign and surrender his certification. The first case was Justin Swift, a former Sgt. with the Ossipee Police Department. Both cases involve officers accused of unauthorized use of databases that hold confidential information.
On December 21, 2022, RobbiLeaks published “Rules are for Thee, Not for Me”, which exposed the AG had received information that New Hampshire Commissioner of Safety Robert Quinn had been involved in an inappropriate query. You won’t find a press release from the AG on that matter, in fact, they won’t even acknowledge that an investigation was commenced. (See “Rules are for Thee, Not for Me”)
Governor Sununu’s office did, however, confirm the matter was reviewed and no further action was warranted. Interesting.
Here is what is not widely known……The AG most definitely investigated the allegations on Quinn but could not compel the NH State Troopers with knowledge of the incident to cooperate with the investigation.
Even law enforcement officers have a 5th amendment right to remain silent in a criminal investigation, but they would not enjoy that same right in an Internal Investigation. The involved Troopers would have been compelled to cooperate and answer questions.
Oddly, the three NH State Troopers believed to have knowledge of this incident, Mike Artega, Victor Muzzey, and John Morasco were all rewarded for their lack of cooperation. It appears that Colonel Nate Noyes did not order an internal investigation on the matter, and if he did…..someone is a big fat liar.
Trooper Mike Artega was promoted to Sergeant.
Lt. Victor Muzzey was promoted to Captain.
Major John Morasco retired and was then appointed to be the Director of Motor Vehicles, where he legal double-dips.
Commissioner Bob Quinn clearly has “Friends in Low Places” who are protecting him from the same fate that Justin Swift and Gary Pilotte faced for doing the same damn thing.
RobbiLeaks submits that Governor Sununu should demand that AG Formella re-open the investigation on Commissioner Quinn, at a minimum, Quinn should be forced to resign, surrender his certification and be placed on a national registry, be restricted from seeking future employment in law enforcement, and be placed on the EES.
If you agree, RobbiLeaks encourages you to contact Governor Sununu’s office at 603-271-1212. It would be a shame to see his aspirations to be POTUS squashed due to the appearance of being complicit.
