Merrimack Man Indicted On April 2021 State Rep. Special Election Interference Charge

MERRIMACK, NH — A former candidate for town council was indicted in superior court this month after being accused of interfering with the April 2021 special election for state representative after the death of House Speaker Dick Hinch due to COVID-19.

Michael Drouin, 30, of Vanderbilt Drive in Merrimack, was indicted on a single felony count of interference with communication in November. He was indicted after a 16-month investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. An investigator accused him of knowingly blocking access to a candidate’s communication equipment or services to interfere with campaign activity on April 13, 2021.

According to a court affidavit, state Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, who also works for the New Hampshire GOP, filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office election law unit about a false ad on Craigslist which contained the cellphone number of Bill Boyd, then a town councilor and the Republican candidate in the April 2021 special election to replace Hinch, who died in December 2020. The ad promoted a free trailer, and Boyd’s phone was being jammed all morning, the report said. Boyd shut off his cell phone after realizing he was being targeted and receiving dozens of text messages and voicemails during a 45-minute time period.

An investigator attempted to find the ad, but Craigslist had already taken it down.

After the polls closed, Boyd bested Wendy Thomas, a former state representative at the time, who was also seeking the seat, by about 390 votes.

Later, the investigator received screenshots and the link promoting a free trailer in Nashua.

About two weeks later, a subpoena was filed with the website’s legal department for information about the posting. The investigator later found out the email used to post the free trailer ad was a fake Gmail account using part of Boyd’s name. The company also gave the investigator an IP address and the publication time, around 9:15 a.m.

Comcast was then subpoenaed for information, leading to a Hampton address and a billing address in Medford, Massachusetts, in August 2021.

About five weeks later, the investigator visited the Hampton address and spoke to one of the condominium association board members who confirmed the identity of the condo owner. The owner lived in Westford, MA, and Del Ray, Florida, and often rented out the condo. The investigator spoke with the condo owner and learned Drouin “rented the unit off-season,” an affidavit said.

In October 2021, the investigator spoke with Drouin, who was accused of confirming he lived in the condo in Hampton between October 2020 and June 2021, after moving out of Merrimack and returning later. When asked about Craigslist and the fake ad, Drouin said “he was familiar with Craigslist but denied creating a false ad for a free trailer,” the report said. When he was told records were subpoenaed and connected the condo where he was living to the ad, “Drouin paused for a moment before stating that ‘it was a joke; I meant no harm’,” the affidavit stated.

The investigator accused Drouin of not knowing where he obtained the photo or why he chose to post the phony ad that day. When the investigator mentioned it was the same day of the special election, Drouin “denied” the ad had anything to do with the election and called it “bad timing” for a joke “that he didn’t mean for anything bad to happen.”

Drouin claimed he was friends with Boyd on Facebook and they were members of the same political party, the report said. But the investigator had already viewed Drouin’s registration and pointed out he was a Democrat while Boyd was a Republican. Drouin then claimed he tried to change his party affiliation a few years ago at the town clerk’s office. He was asked again about the date and responded he was “not quite sure” why he chose that date, mentioned “bad timing” again, and said it was a joke, the investigator alleged.

Drouin added he was “not looking for any trouble,” saying, “sometimes, people make mistakes,” the report said. Later, he maintained not being sure why he created the fake ad and said he did not think it was a big deal at the time, the report said. Drouin suggested taking Boyd out to dinner in an effort not to “get hooked up in the court system,” the affidavit said.

After meeting with Drouin, the investigator spoke with Boyd, who confirmed knowing him after he requested being appointed to the town’s conservation commission after to Merrimack from Hudson. He was appointed later as an alternate member and was elected to a library trustee seat in 2021.

Boyd confirmed he recently received a Facebook friend request from Drouin, which he accepted, not because they were friends but because Drouin was a constituent and involved in town affairs. He also received a message from Drouin where he claimed a buddy asked him to put together a prank, and he saw no harm in it at the time, according to the court report. Drouin, the note said, realized it was “terrible timing with the election” and had been bothering him ever since, the affidavit said. He suggested they have lunch because he did not want to lose him as a potential friend, the report said.

“I never meant any harm,” Drouin wrote, according to the report, “I should have had more consideration.”

A follow-up email was sent the next day to Boyd, the investigator said.

On April 14, two days after the 2022 town election, where Drouin was defeated by more than 450 votes when he attempted to win a one-year town council seat, the investigator ran another check on him and found he had changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican on Feb. 16 — five months after being contacted by the investigator.

The investigator filed a probable cause affidavit against Drouin on Aug. 22. He was indicted by a Hillsborough County grand jury on Nov. 17.

According to court paperwork, Drouin is due back in superior court on Jan. 10, 2023, for a criminal mediation hearing.

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