CHICOPEE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – Tuesday marked sentencing day for former Chicopee Public Schools Superintendent Lynn Clark, who was charged with lying to the FBI in connection with sending dozens of threatening text messages to a city police chief candidate.
Clark changed her plea to guilty in federal court earlier this year and admitted to two counts of making false statements to the FBI. In December 2021, law enforcement received a report that a police chief candidate in Chicopee received multiple threatening texts from unknown numbers, which forced him to withdraw from consideration. Federal investigators later questioned Clark, who claimed she didn’t know who sent the nearly 100 text messages and she never downloaded a burner app to her phone. She initially pleaded not guilty to these claims, but in January 2024, Clark admitted she did, in fact, send the messages.
A federal judge agreed Tuesday to the conditions of the plea agreement and Clark will serve probation for one year, pay a $1,000 fine, and pay a mandatory special assessment of $200. The interest charge has been waived by the court and Clark will have 30 days to pay the fine.
If she did go to trial, Clark would have faced up to five years in prison, followed by one to three years of supervised release and up to $250,000 in fines for each count.
The judge also decided to waive any drug and treatment conditions and called them unnecessary since drugs do not pertain to this case.
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