US veteran wanted for child porn appears in Russian propaganda
- Wilmer Puello-Mota wanted for child porn possession
- He told his lawyer he was joining Russian army, fled in January
- He has now been featured in two military propaganda videos
This undated still image taken from video posted on pro-Kremlin media sites appears to show Wilmer Puello-Mota in a military enlistment office in Siberia. Puello-Mota, a U.S. Air Force veteran and former elected official in Massachusetts who fled the U.S. after being charged with possessing sexually explicit images of a child, told his lawyer he joined Russia’s army. (AP Photo)
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(NewsNation) — A United States Air Force veteran who fled the country over a possession of child pornography charge has joined the Russian army, according to a video from its defense ministry.
Wilmer Puello-Mota, once a city councilman in Holyoke, Massachusetts, said, “I don’t consider myself a traitor” in the video. Holyoke City Council President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti confirmed with NBC that the soldier pictured is her former coworker.
He was originally scheduled to appear in a Rhode Island courtroom in January to plead guilty to possessing sexually explicit images of a minor, his lawyer, John M. Cicilline, told The Boston Globe. The charges could have landed him behind bars for at least five years.
But he never showed up. The day before his hearing, he reportedly told Cicilline, “‘I joined the Russian army,’ or something like that. I thought he was joking.”
“I’m sure he joined the Russian army because he didn’t want to register as a sex offender,” Cicilline added.
Dressed in combat gear, Puello-Mota is identified in the video as an “American with Russian citizenship” and a “former American citizen” currently working as a reconnaissance drone operator.
The 28-year-old is serving in the Donetsk region fighting Ukrainian troops under the call sign “Boston.”
Puello-Mota previously appeared in a Russian-distributed video posted April 10. That video shows him signing documents at a military enlistment office in Siberia.
Before he fled, Puello-Mota served in the U.S. Air Force and deployed to Afghanistan in 2015, when he was 19, media releases show. He later served with the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing as a security forces airman.
The Air Force veteran was arrested in 2020 in Warwick, Rhode Island, after he called to report a stolen gun, and police found nude images of a 17-year-old girl on his phone.
He was charged with one count of having sexually explicit images of a child, with a later charge of trying to deceive prosecutors and his commanders about the case added.
Under Rhode Island law, Puello-Mota’s trial cannot begin without him being present.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
