Ruggiero, 35, was indicted by a Rockingham County grand jury, as were her mother, Elizabeth McDonald of East Kingston, her boyfriend, Brendan Bisbee, also of East Kingston, and her ex-brother-in-law Daniel Ruggiero of Enfield , Conn.
Ruggiero -- who also goes by Kristin McDonald -- waived arraignment on the new indictments Wednesday and was ordered held without bail.
She is already serving a 7- to 15-year prison sentence after being convicted in May of falsifying physical evidence in an attempt to use the criminal justice system to seek revenge against her ex-husband, Jeffrey Ruggiero, during a bitter divorce.
She falsely reported to East Kingston police in May 2008 that she received a series of threatening text messages from her ex-husband.
Jeffrey Ruggiero was briefly jailed and had his career in the U.S. Coast Guard nearly derailed before an investigation concluded his ex-wife had been manipulating police.
The new charges focus on Kristin Ruggiero's alleged actions while she was on trial in Rockingham County Superior Court, along with the efforts her 58-year-old mother allegedly undertook to provide false documents to the defense.
Bisbee, 33, the boyfriend, allegedly made several false statements to a grand jury and under oath during Ruggiero's trial, the indictments say. Ruggiero's ex-brother-in-law, Daniel Ruggiero, 33, also committed perjury during the trial, indictments say.
The indictments come months after prosecutors suggested they were reviewing some of the evidence and testimony during Ruggiero's trial in May. A grand jury returned several indictments when they met earlier this month.
Kristin Ruggiero was indicted on four counts of witness tampering, three counts of falsifying physical evidence, four counts of solicitation to commit perjury, six counts of perjury and four misdemeanor counts of unsworn falsification.
McDonald was indicted on two counts of falsifying physical evidence, one count of criminal liability for conduct of another and one count of unsworn falsification.
Bisbee was indicted on six counts of felony perjury, which allege he made false statements to a grand jury and during Ruggiero's trial.
Daniel Ruggiero was indicted on one count of perjury and one count of misdemeanor false swearing.
Kristin Ruggiero has petitioned a court judge to be freed on bail in recent weeks while her conviction in the first case is pending appeal.
I am glad that Justice is beginning to be served here. I would like to know what I need to do to get acts of perjury and lying by my ex-wife to be dealt with in my divorce and custody case. The court has never wanted to address my issues with my children being alienated from me. I am sure a lot of other people feel the same way and would like to know where to turn. For every one person listened to there are thousands of others that are not. This seems to be a one in a million case where someone finally listened to the true victim. I hope Jeffrey can pick up the pieces and reestablish his lost relationship with his daughter for as much as Jeffrey has been victimized; the biggest victim is his daughter. Good luck Jeffrey.
ReplyDeleteThis is a first. Clearly, in New Hampshire perjury is rewarded not penalized. If family "courts" started actually doing their jobs, they'd have to build a special prison to handle all the derelict white trash "mothers" who pull stunts like this. I've been in the same boat, with a fanatical "mother" of my kid making up tall tales. I've yet to see Kerri McKinnon charged with perjury, but it's high time it happens. Kudos for at least one jurisdiction getting something right for a change.
ReplyDeleteProsecution for false police reports of domestic violence are so rare that this should have gotten national coverage. Protection orders are given out with no physical evidence required and then any allegation of a violation, of the protection order, is mandatory arrest in many states. Most police departments don't even bother to investigate; it's take the report, get a warrant, arrest the accused. Prosecuting false reports to the police should be mandatory.
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