New Hampshire Man Sentenced to Over Two Years in Prison for Stalking Journalists

BOSTON - A New Hampshire man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in a conspiracy to harass and intimidate two journalists employed by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR). The harassment and intimidation of the victims included the vandalism - on five separate occasions - of the victims' homes and the home of one of the victims' parents with bricks, large rocks and red spray paint.

Keenan Saniatan, 36, of Nashua, N.H., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to 30 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In September 2024, Saniatan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit stalking using a facility of interstate commerce and one count of stalking using a facility of interstate commerce. Saniatan was charged in June 2023 along with co-conspirators Tucker Cockerline and Michael Waselchuck. In September 2024, Saniatan, Cockerline and Waselchuck were indicted by a federal grand jury along with a fourth New Hampshire man, Eric Labarge.

In March 2022, an NHPR journalist (Victim 1) published an article detailing allegations of sexual and other misconduct by a former New Hampshire businessperson, identified in the charging document as Subject 1. Another NHPR journalist (Victim 2) also contributed to the article, which appeared on NHPR's website during and after March 2022. In response to this reporting, Labarge - who is a close personal associate of Subject 1 - Saniatan, Cockerline and Waselchuck agreed to harass and intimidate Victims 1 and 2 and their immediate family members.

Saniatan was responsible for vandalizing two homes connected to the NHPR journalists in April 2022, at Labarge's request. On the evening of April 24, 2022, Saniatan spraypainted the word "C*NT" in large red letters on the front door of Victim 2's home in Concord, N.H. He also threw a large rock at the exterior of the home. That same evening, Saniatan threw a softball-sized rock through an exterior window and spraypainted the word "C*NT" in large red letters on the front of Victim 1's parents' home in Hampstead, N.H. Separately, and at Labarge's request, Cockerline and Waselchuck vandalized Victim 1's home, a home where Victim 1 used to reside and Victim 1's parents' home using bricks and red spray paint in three separate incidents in April and May 2022.

In November 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Labarge to 46 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Earlier this year, Cockerline and Waselchuck received prison sentences of 27 months and 21 months, respectively. Each sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Concord, Hampstead and Hanover, New Hampshire Police Departments, the Melrose, Massachusetts Police Department and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Casey and Torey B. Cummings of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.