HOLYOKE — City Councilor Wilmer Puello-Mota returned to his duties at Tuesday night’s council meeting, voting as a full member days after a Hampden Superior Court judge ruled he could not be removed from his seat while he faces child pornography and other charges in Rhode Island.
The city’s legal counsel determined in August that Puello-Mota’s Ward 2 seat was vacant because he had run afoul of the city charter, but Judge Michael Callan ruled on Friday that, under the charter, only the councilor’s conviction could force him to give up his elected position.
Puello-Mota sued the city, the council and Mayor Joshua Garcia last month, arguing that his admission to violating the terms of his bail, followed by a 90-day jail sentence, did not qualify as a conviction. The city’s attorneys said the charter, plus Puello-Mota’s own actions, made the seat vacant by law, not any action by the defendants.
Puello-Mota was charged with possession of child pornography in Rhode Island in January 2021, when he was 24, after allegedly paying a 17-year-old for nude photos. He pleaded not guilty and denied knowing that she was underage.
A member of the Air National Guard, he was arrested and jailed in May — leaving Ward 2 without a working councilor — for violating the terms of his bail after prosecutors accused him of forging his military supervisor’s signature on a fraudulent memo to the court. As a result, he faces additional felony charges of obstructing justice and forgery.
Three months after he was incarcerated, Puello-Mota admitted to the bail violation in court and a judge sentenced him to the time he had just served.
On Friday, Callan ruled that the bail violation does not count as a conviction and the councilor is entitled to continue in his duties as the legal process plays out. He issued a preliminary injunction against Puello-Mota’s removal; there is no recall process for voters or the council to remove members.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, John Rivera of Cabot Street asked councilors to do their “civic duty” by establishing a recall process.
“In these past months, we’ve had a lack of representation in one of the wards, which I won’t call out. This cannot continue, simply,” Rivera said. He said officials should face recall if they are not fulfilling their duties, or if there is “founded corruption or conflictual interests.”
In his lawsuit, Puello-Mota wrote that the city sent him a “preposterous” letter telling him the seat was vacant but also demanding that he resign.
“Plaintiff has not resigned his Ward 2 city council seat. Plaintiff will never do so,” the complaint reads.
Puello-Mota could not be reached for comment.
According to Brian Hodge, a spokesman for Rhode Island’s attorney general, a pretrial conference in Puello-Mota’s case was held Wednesday and another is scheduled for Nov. 9.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.