The story of MAGA US Air Force veteran and Republican former Holyoke, Massachusetts city councilman-turned Russian army drone operator Wilmer Puello-Mota sounds like a not particularly imaginative lib’s stereotype of a MAGA shitbag, especially the part where he ran for the seat without disclosing that he had been under indictment for possession of child pornography in neighboring Rhode Island since 2020 and had fled the country ahead of a court date earlier this year.

And yet it’s all true, according to NBC News, who report that Puello-Mota appeared in a recent Russian army propaganda video filmed in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, saying “I’m from Boston, Massachusetts, and I served 10 years in the US Air Force, some years in the Massachusetts International Guard, and I did two years as a city councilor,” and described by Moscow’s Defense Ministry as both an “American with Russian citizenship” and a “former American citizen.” They didn’t mention that he’s a fugitive from American justice who was caught by cops possessing nude images of a 17 year-old girl he met in a Warwick, Rhode Island hotel room some time in early 2020.

Puello-Mota’s defense lawyer, John Cicilline (brother of Dem former Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline – whole other can of worms with John, lol), told the Boston Globe that in January he called his client ahead of a hearing where he was expected to plead guilty. That’s when Puello-Mota told him he would not be available to attend court. “He said, ‘I joined the Russian army,’ or something like that. I thought he was joking,” Cicilline said, adding, “I’m sure he joined the Russian army because he didn’t want to register as a sex offender.” It’s not clear how Puello-Mota was able to escape the US while facing charges though reports suggest he entered Russia via Turkey.

NBC cites the Globe article stating that Puello-Mota “was aligned with conservative council members who supported former President Donald Trump” during his 2021-2023 term on the council.