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A former Holyoke city councilor faced child porn charges. Now he’s apparently fighting for the Russian army.

Wilmer Puello-Mota reportedly told his lawyer that he had joined the Russian military just before he was set to plead guilty.

By Ross Cristantiello

April 16, 2024

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In 2020, Wilmer Puello-Mota called police in Rhode Island to report that a gun of his had been stolen. Over the next four years, Puello-Mota would be elected to the Holyoke City Council, charged with possession of child pornography, and arrested twice. Now, it appears he has fled the U.S. to join Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. 

Here’s what to know about the astonishing saga of Wilmer Puello-Mota. 

Police responded to Puello-Mota’s report about a stolen firearm at a hotel in Warwick, Rhode Island, in May 2020. Authorities allege Puello-Mota was at the hotel to meet with a 17-year-old girl that he had previously paid for sexually explicit images. 

The girl told police that they had met online, and that he was her “sugar daddy.” Puello-Mota claimed to have been misled about the girl’s age, thinking that she was 22 instead of 17, according to court documents obtained by The Boston Globe and MassLive. He was charged with possession of child pornography in January 2021. 

“There was no sexual activity, no criminal activity,” John Cicilline, a Rhode Island attorney who represented Puello-Mota, told the Globe. “This is not your normal child porn case.”

In November of that year, Puello-Mota was elected to Holyoke City Council with about 400 votes, running unopposed. He served as a conservative, aligning with councilors who supported Donald Trump, the Globe reported. 

The child porn charge came to light in 2022, only a few months into Puello-Mota’s term. Cicilline told the Globe that that case might have been dismissed without a guilty plea. 

But that May, he was arrested again while serving as a security forces technical sergeant at the Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, according to court documents. Puello-Mota was accused of forging a document and having someone else pose as his commander in a call with a prosecutor concerning the child porn case. He posted bail after 90 days in jail. 

Amid the allegations, Holyoke officials tried to oust Puello-Mota from the City Council, only to be rebuffed by a judge who ruled that the body could not do so because he had not been convicted of any crimes. He served the remainder of his term and did not seek reelection. 

Eventually, Puello-Mota agreed to a deal with prosecutors, requiring him to plead guilty to all charges and register as a sex offender in exchange for an 18-month prison term, Cicilline told the Globe. 

In early January, Cicilline called Puello-Mota to remind him that he needed to be in court in Warwick for a plea hearing. Puello-Mota said that he was in Russia, and had joined the nation’s military. 

“I thought he was joking,” Cicilline told the Globe. 

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

This spring, a video of a man with a blurred face — purportedly Puello-Mota — appeared online. In it, the man says he is in Avdiivka, the Ukrainian city captured by Russian forces earlier this year. Those who knew Puello-Mota told MassLive that they recognized his voice in the clip.

“You see the destroyed buildings… These are people’s homes. We need to support Russia, we have to have friendship, we have to make sure that all the goals laid out are fulfilled, and we just have to stop this and we have to do everything we can to help,” the man can be heard saying as he holds an American flag. 

Another video, this one clearly showing Puello-Mota, was posted to Telegram earlier this month and obtained by the Globe. In it, he can be seen speaking in English about the “special military operation” in Ukraine and signing documents in what appears to be a Russian military office. 

“This is the least that I can do, is to give back and help,” he says in the video. 

In Rhode Island, the case against Puello-Mota has been delayed indefinitely. He left behind a young daughter and supportive parents in the U.S., Cicilline said. Puello-Mota had never talked about fleeing to Russia, Cicilline told the Globe, and he has not heard from Puello-Mota since January.