A federal grand jury has indicted Chicopee, Massachusetts, suspended Superintendent of Schools Lynn Clark for allegedly lying to the FBI about threatening text messages sent to an applicant for the city's police chief position.
U. S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston office, said Clark was indicted today on two counts of making false statements. Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, a year of supervised release and a $10,000 fine.
Clark, 51, of Belchertown is charged with lying about sending 99 threatening messages to a candidate for Chicopee Police Chief using fictitious phone numbers purchased through a mobile app.
The case dates back to November 2021, after a candidate submitted their application for Police Chief and allegedly received numerous text messages from unknown numbers containing threats to expose information that would cause the person reputational harm. As a result, the candidate withdrew their application and the city delayed the selection process, officials said.
After several months of investigations and talks with police Clark was arrested on April 6 at her home and released the same day. She was placed on paid administrative leave by the school district.
Clark is scheduled to be arraigned on April 27 in Springfield Federal Court.
