Simple Division
-Volume I-
Over the course of the last month-and-a-half or so, RobbiLeaks has provided our readers with a glimpse into the Division of State Police. Much like “Dorothy,” we have peeked behind the curtain to see what is really going on. For those of you who have faithfully followed all of the “Leaks” over the last 5-6 weeks, this will be a brief review, a summary if you will. For those new to RobbiLeaks, this post will brief you on what you missed thus far, and may serve to motivate you to search some of our older posts. Enjoy!
In “Rules Are for Thee, Not For Me,” we discovered that Commissioner of Safety Bob Quinn was requesting illegal queries of criminal records for his friends. The Attorney General’s Office knew about this allegation and has done nothing. At least three individuals, (Trooper Mike Arteaga, Lieutenant Victory Muzzey and Major John Marasco) all stonewalled the investigation on behalf of Commissioner Quinn, and all three were subsequently rewarded with promotions. The woman who reported the illegal queries (Tiffany Foss) was run out of her position and has sought “Whistleblower Protection Status” out of fear the State will retaliate against her.
We also learned that the same Department of Justice that was turning a blind eye to Commissioner Quinn’s activities was publicly celebrating the indictment of Ossipee Police Sergeant Justin Swift for the very same act – illegal record queries for personal use.
In “Major Cover Up,” we learned that Executive Major Matthew Shapiro killed his high school girlfriend, Tara Linehan, when he crashed his car at high speed into a dump truck. Shapiro admitted to responding officers that he was speeding and arguing with Linehan, when he crossed into the oncoming lane of Route 103-A in Newbury. Shapiro’s grandfather was the longtime Chief of Newbury Police Department, retiring just years before the crash. Not surprisingly, Shapiro was never charged in connection to Linehan’s death. Additionally, he was uninsured at the time of the crash and has never compensated the driver of the dump truck for the tens of thousands of dollars in damages and lost wages resulting from the crash. As a road Trooper, Shapiro brought charges against numerous drivers for much less egregious offenses.
“Rowe’d to Hell” revealed the strength of the “good ole boy network” at the Division. Justin Rowe was handpicked to be the next Lieutenant in Professional Standards (Internal Affairs) until it was learned at the eleventh hour that he had been sexually harassing a female civilian via online messages. His comments were both wildly unprofessional and disturbing. The Department of Personnel investigated the incident, sustained the complaint and recommended termination. In stepped Major John Marasco, Colonel Noyes and Commissioner Quinn to save the day. Rowe was not terminated, nor was he demoted, as is the precedent in such cases. He was simply transferred back to the Major Crime Unit. He was also allowed to continue working as the Commander of the Cadet Police Academy, where he would have ample access to teenage girls. The female victim of Rowe’s harassment left the Division in tears. Reportedly, her parting words to Major Marasco were: “Fuck you, and fuck the Division of State Police.” Sometimes the simplest message is the best.
In much the same fashion as “Rules Are For Thee.” the Attorney General’s Office did nothing with Justin Rowe, while at the same time bringing criminal charges against former Litchfield Police Chief Ben Sargent. Sargent’s offense is that he reportedly told a female subordinate that he “loved her.” Rowe’s comments were far more indecent and offensive, yet he faces no charges.
“Hall Pass” showed how the Division will quietly encourage Troopers to violate individual rights in the name of producing results, and how quickly it will cut a Trooper loose when it all goes bad. Sergeant Mark Hall of the MET Team (Mobile Enforcement Team) pushed his Troopers to produce arrests during drug interdiction motor vehicle stops. Troopers who were not regularly locking up suspects with significant quantities of opioids, crystal meth, etc, were asked, “Do you really want to be here?”. Given the amount of overtime and schedule flexibility within MET, the threat of being removed represented a significant loss for these young Troopers. When Trooper Haden Wilber arrested Robyn White in early 2017, he was operating under MET’s standard practices. She was admittedly held on thin evidence, but it was all documented in Wilber’s report. This report was turned in, reviewed and approved by Hall within weeks, if not days, of the arrest. In short, Hall and the rest of the chain of command knew exactly what Wilber did.
In 2018, Trooper Wilber was named both K9 Handler of the Year, and Trooper of the Year. Clearly, not only did the Division have no problem with Trooper Wilber’s actions, they were rewarding him for said efforts. However, once Ms. White filed a lawsuit, the Division quickly cut ties with Wilber. The fact is, Haden Wilber was doing exactly what the Division of State Police, Sergeant Mark Hall and Commissioner Bob Quinn (the founder of MET) wanted. Wilber just got caught, so he was thrown to the wolves. And what happened to Mark Hall who orchestrated the shady conduct of the MET Team? He has been promoted, repeatedly, all the way to Major.
An ironic side note to all of this is that Haden Wilber filed the complaint against Sergeant Justin Rowe for Rowe’s sexual harassment of a female civilian employee of the Division. (See above.) Despite the blatant conflict of interest, Rowe was allowed to investigate Wilber for the incident involving Robyn White. To no one’s surprise, Rowe sustained the complaint.
The adage “Screw Up, Move Up” is well known by anyone who has worked in a bureaucracy. “Farmington Failures” documents just how ineptly the homicide of two women in Farmington was investigated. Interviews were not recorded or documented. Polygraph reports were missing. Evidence was unaccounted for. Multiple members of the Major Crime Unit, and the supervising member of the Attorney General’s Office were all asleep on the job. At least 399 pages of documents, as well as recordings, videos, cd’s, dvd’s, and thumb drives were absent from the discovery provided to the defense for trial preparation. So vast was the list of missing items, that the court was left with no alternative but to declare a mistrial. This was the very first time in history that a case ended in a mistrial because so much evidence was missing.
During the ensuing internal investigation to determine who was responsible and how this happened, four names appeared: Sgt. Brian Strong, Sgt. Matt Koehler, Trooper Steve Sloper and Trooper Steven McAulay. All failed to turn over key pieces of evidence for discovery. Trooper Sloper also lied about his responsibilities to turn in evidence, instead blaming another Trooper for his own failure. Clearly, some corrective action would be taken, right? As a matter of fact, it was. The Division rewarded all of these individuals with promotions. Not just any promotions. These were all promotions in investigations! You know, the same thing they just screwed up. The investigators responsible for a double homicide case ending in a mistrial, with all charges dismissed, were all promoted in Investigative Services and given pay raises. And you thought participation trophies were stupid?
Recently, we learned in “Brain Dead in Berlin” that not only did Trooper Brandon Girardi get arrested for DWI, but he took a breath test which was over a .08. Somehow, his original charges were dropped to a Reckless Driving, despite the breath test. Additionally, his license would have been suspended either administratively or as a result of the Reckless Driving charge. Nevertheless, Trooper Girardi has kept his employment with the Division of State Police. Beyond that, Berlin Police Department has refused an RSA 91-A request for the arrest report on Girardi, citing an “invasion of privacy.” No such protections exist under 91-A, and an arrest report (in a closed case) is a public document. This story is still developing.
Cronyism is frequently referred to as, “The good ole boy network.” In the Division of State Police, it is called “The Vacation Club.” When Colonel Noyes travels to the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the summer, he is joined by Steve Sloper who lied in an investigation. (Apparently, roasting marshmallows under the moonlight, in the dunes with the Colonel allows one to lie when it suits them.) Sloper is not the only one to take his ass-kissing abilities on the road. In the coming weeks, RobbiLeaks with be revealing others who don’t dare allow themselves to be left “behind.”
Despite uncovering all of this, there are two things RobbiLeaks has not been unable to locate:
A statement from either Colonel Nathan Noyes or Commissioner Bob Quinn denying the accuracy of any of these reports or posts in RobbiLeaks.
A statement from Governor Chris Sununu acknowledging the problems within the Division of State Police and a plan to fix it. A guy considering a run for President of the United States might want to address some of these issues before the national news media descends upon the Granite State.
Keep following us, RobbiLeaks faithful. The failing Division of State Police is a treasure trove of this stuff, and there is so much more to come!