From Holyoke to the Russian army

Attorney says ex-city councilor facing charges doesn’t plan to return to the US

‘I’m sure he joined the Russian army because he didn’t want to register as a sex offender.’

JOHN M. CICILLINE, attorney, on Wilmer Puello-Mota (inset)

In January, a day before former Holyoke city councilor Wilmer Puello-Mota was expected to plead guilty to child pornography and other charges in Rhode Island, his lawyer called to remind him to arrive at the courthouse on time and said he was startled to learn Puello-Mota was in Russia. At a square. Eating sushi.

“He said, ‘I joined the Russian army,’ or something like that,” Rhode Island attorney John M. Cicilline said during a telephone interview. “I thought he was joking.”

But Cicilline said Puello-Mota, 28, who had served in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, assured him that he was serious and had no intention of returning to the United States, where he faced a stint in prison and would be required to register as a sex offender.

“I’m sure he joined the Russian army because he didn’t want to register as a sex offender,” Cicilline said.

Puello-Mota had envisioned a career in politics and believed the criminal charges “had ruined his life,” Cicilline said. He didn’t believe he had a future back home, according to Cicilline, and said, “What am I supposed to do, flip hamburgers for the rest of my life?”

The case has garnered global attention after a video was posted last week to a Russian social media channel showing Puello-Mota signing a contract to officially join the country’s armed services as it enters its 25th month of war against Ukraine. He speaks in English, with Russian subtitles, about how honored he is to join Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Puello-Mota, a one-term councilor who did not seek reelection after

his term expired last year, had been free on $20,000 bail and was scheduled to appear in state court in Warwick, R.I., on Jan. 9 for a change of plea hearing.

Instead, state prosecutors said he fled the country on Jan. 7, boarding a flight from Washington, D.C., to Istanbul, Turkey. Then the trail went cold until he surfaced in Russia a couple of months later.

Puello-Mota was first arrested in 2020 in Warwick, R.I., after he called police to report that his firearm had been stolen at a hotel. Officers learned he was there to meet a 17-year-old girl he had communicated with online and that he had paid her money, according to court filings. Police charged him with one count of possession of child pornography after they searched his phone and found nude photos and videos of the girl, who described him as her “sugar daddy.” He told police he believed the girl was 22.

Cicilline said the girl sent Puello-Mota a sexually explicit video, which he immediately deleted, but police recovered it on his phone.

“There was no sexual activity, no criminal activity,” according to Cicilline. “This is not your normal child porn case.”

Cicilline said the case may have been settled without a guilty plea, but then Puello-Mota was arrested again.

In May 2022, while PuelloMota served as a security forces technical sergeant at the Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, he was accused of having someone pose as his commander, during a phone call with a prosecutor handling his child pornography case, and forging a document in an effort to be cleared for deployment with the Air Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing. That led to new charges against him of obstruction of the judicial system, forgery, and counterfeiting for forging documents. He spent 90 days in jail, until he posted bail.

The Holyoke City Council tried to remove Puello-Mota from his seat, but a judge ruled that it had no authority to do so since he had not been convicted of any charges. He remained on the council until his term expired in December.

Cicilline said he had reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, which required Puello-Mota to plead guilty to all charges in exchange for an 18-month prison term. But he said his client was troubled about having to register as a sex offender.

The day before the Jan. 9 court hearing, Cicilline said he called Puello-Mota’s cell phone and his client said: “I think you’re going to be mad at me. I’m not coming to court.”

Cicilline said he was shocked when Puello-Mota told him he was in Russia. He said his client had never suggested he might flee and never talked about Russia or the war in Ukraine. He also left a young daughter behind, as well as his parents, who had shown up in court to support him during legal proceedings, according to Cicilline.

“It’s sad, I think he’s a good kid,” Cicilline said. “Everything lined up against him. If they don’t steal the gun from him this doesn’t happen . ... He went to the police station as a victim, then they get his phone and his world is destroyed.”

Last week, a judge granted a request by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office to take a deposition of the minor victim in Puello-Mota’s case. Prosecutors said the case had been delayed indefinitely and it was necessary to take the victim’s testimony under oath because she may be unavailable when the case goes to trial and “to prevent a failure of justice.”

The case can not proceed to trial in Puello-Mota’s absence because he has a constitutional right to face and cross-examine his accuser.

Cicilline said he has not heard from Puello-Mota since their January phone call, but if Puello-Mota wants to return home he could reach out to Cicilline and make arrangements to surrender to authorities. But, he predicted that’s unlikely.

“To be honest, I gather he’s not coming back,” Cicilline said.

‘What am I supposed to do, flip hamburgers for the rest of my life?’

WILMER PUELLO-MOTA, in conversation with his lawyer, John M. Cicilline, according to Cicilline