PA Chief to Plead Guilty to Threatening Man with Felony Charges Over Facebook Posts

A police chief in Pennsylvania who threatened a private citizen with felony charges in retaliation for critical Facebook comments has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of deprivation of civil rights, federal prosecutors said .

Brian Buglio was the police chief for West Hazleton, about 50 miles southwest of Scranton, when a private citizen on multiple occasions in February 2020 “posted social media content on Facebook criticizing Buglio and the West Hazleton Police Department,” according to records filed in U.S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The critical social-media posts prompted a meeting between Buglio, 45, and the private citizen at the West Hazleton Police Department on March 4, 2020, court records said.

“During that meeting, Brian Buglio, acting under color of law, threatened to pursue felony criminal charges against Individual #1, in retaliation for Individual #1’s social media posts on Facebook and to stifle Individual #1’s exercise of free speech. During that meeting, Brian Buglio acknowledged that the threatened felony charges lacked merit,” court records say..

Federal documents show Buglio has agreed to plead guilty to the charge against him. Buglio’s lawyer, listed as Fortunato N. Perri, Jr., based in Philadelphia, did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment on Tuesday. The charge Buglio is facing has a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment, and a fine of $100,000, records said.

The West Hazleton Police Department has four full time and four part time officers, according to the department’s website. Buglio has worked for the department since 1996, NBC reports.