A Plymouth district court judge has refused to dismiss identity fraud charges against a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent who filed a strange traffic complaint with the Plymouth police last year posing as Town Manager Derek Brindisi.
With two words — “motion denied”— Plymouth District Court judge John Canavan on Dec. 16 rejected Christopher Marden’s effort to dismiss the charges lodged against him in September.
Marden, of Holliston, 36, was accused of sending an email to the Plymouth Police Department last Dec. 9 that read: “Nature of Concern: “Christmas Lights on Vehicles While Driving.”
In the complaint, sent under Brindisi’s name, Marden said that he saw reports on the Facebook page “All Things Plymouth” that multiple people had contacted Plymouth police about moving vehicles wrapped in Christmas lights, which he said was a violation of state law.
Plymouth police officers, he claimed, were praising people for violating the law.
“Please address this ASAP and inform the public this is not allowed,” said the email, which was supposedly from Brindisi.
Police Chief Dana Flynn questioned Brindisi, who said he had no idea what Flynn was talking about.
Plymouth police detective Brian Pierce was assigned to investigate.
Using multiple technological tools, Pierce traced the IP address on the email — the unique number assigned to every device on the internet — back to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
A Homeland Security officer then determined that the email came from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection workstation at Logan Airport, from a user account assigned to Marden.
Marden’s lawyer, Anthony Riccio, tried once before unsuccessfully to get the charges dismissed.
In October he argued that a “valid” medical condition called “light sensitivity” caused Marden to file the complaint.
“While his actions may not have been appropriate,” wrote Riccio, Marden “was making a valid complaint based on his medical condition and attempted to do so anonymously.”
In the motion to dismiss, Riccio said his client had no criminal intent — he wasn’t looking to harass anyone or to gain anything of value, he said.
“There is no probable cause to believe the defendant obtained the personal identifying information of another person and posed as that person without their express authorization with the intent of obtaining, money, credit, goods, services, a thing of value… or to harass another person,” he wrote on December 8.
Both the police and a court clerk had concluded this was not a case of harassment, Riccio wrote in the motion to dismiss.
The court documents don’t explain why Marden filed the traffic complaint with Plymouth police, since he lives in Holliston and works at Logan Airport.
If convicted of identity fraud, which is a misdemeanor, Marden could face up to 2-1/2 years in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. He is due back in court on Jan. 15, court records show.
It’s unclear what Marden’s employment status is.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Ryan Brissette didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
When Marden was charged in September, Brissette said the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility was “actively investigating the matter.”
“As a matter of policy, CBP does not comment on ongoing investigations; however, CBP employees are held to the highest standards of professional conduct, and any allegations of misconduct are taken seriously and thoroughly reviewed in accordance with established procedures,” he wrote.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.