To Dodge Charges, He Fled US, Joined Russian Military

A former city councilor and member of the Massachusetts National Guard who fled the country in January, days before he was to be tried for child pornography in Rhode Island, has apparently defected to Russia and joined the military. Wilmer Puello-Mota, a former city councilor in Holyoke, Mass., was first spotted in footage showing the Russian capture of Ukraine's Avdiivka in February, the Republican reported last month. Then on Wednesday, the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district in western Siberia published an interview with Puello-Mota, identified as former US soldier "Wil," per the Moscow Times. Puello-Mota, 28, served in the Air Force before joining the Massachusetts Air National Guard, per Military.com. A rep says he was discharged in October 2022 due to "criminal activity."

The footage shows him signing a military contract and speaking of his time fighting in Avdiivka as a volunteer with an "international brigade," per the Times. "I definitely would do it again, I'd go back if I could," says Puello-Mota. The footage was widely circulated among pro-war bloggers on Telegram, per Newsweek. One post claims Puello-Mota came to Russia upon "realizing what was really happening in Ukraine." There's no mention of the charges he faces at home. In 2020, he was charged with possession of child pornography in Rhode Island after allegedly soliciting explicit photos of a 17-year-old girl whom he knew to be underage. He was also charged with forgery, counterfeiting, and obstruction of the judicial system over documents allegedly meant to deceive Rhode Island authorities and his commanding officers, per Newsweek.

On Jan. 7, two days before he was to face charges in court, Puello-Mota boarded a flight from Washington, DC, to Turkey. If the photos and videos appearing to show Puello-Mota in Russia and Ukraine are accurate, "the Defendant is well beyond the jurisdiction of this Court and, if false, the Defendant is engaged in an elaborate ruse to conceal his whereabouts," Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha says in court documents filed last month, per Military.com. Puello-Mota's Facebook page now shows a photo of the Kremlin and Puello-Mota in military gear operating a drone, per Newsweek. One Russian blogger claimed he was paid 750,000 rubles (about $8,100) upfront as part of his military contract and will receive another 150,000 ($1,600) every two months. (More Russia stories.)