Chicopee superintendent federally indicted over alleged threats

BELCHERTOWN — A federal grand jury has indicted the superintendent of Chicopee Public Schools on two charges of making false statements in connection with prosecutors’ allegations that she sent threatening text messages to a candidate for the city’s police chief.

Lynn Clark, a 51-year-old Belchertown resident, was indicted Thursday and will be arraigned in federal court on April 27. She had previously been arrested and charged by criminal complaint on April 6.

Reached by telephone Thursday, Clark’s attorney, Jared Olanoff, declined to comment. He has previously said that Clark admits nothing, taking issue with some of the information presented in the federal government’s charges against her.

Chicopee had been in the process of hiring a new chief in December when law enforcement received a report that a candidate for the job was receiving threats intended to force him to withdraw his application, according to court documents.

Clark is alleged to have sent the messages from fictitious numbers purchased online. The FBI has alleged that phone and internet records show that Clark purchased those numbers through a mobile phone “burner app.” Prosecutors allege that she lied to investigators about sending them, instead casting suspicion on others before eventually admitting to doing so during a voluntary interview with the FBI.

The charges of making false statements each carry a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to a year of supervised release and a fine of as much as $10,000, according to federal prosecutors.

Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.]]>