by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine
The former director of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Vergennes, who police say falsely claimed under oath she was accosted by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent at a local business, will not be prosecuted for a felony charge of false swearing, officials said.
Alicia Grangent, 49, instead has been given the chance to make a $500 donation to the John Graham Housing Shelter in Vergennes, Addison County State's Attorney Eva P. Vekos told Vermont News First.
Vergennes Police said they had issued Grangent a court citation ordering her to appear in Vermont Superior Court in May on a felony count of false swearing and a misdemeanor charge of providing bogus information to Vergennes Police. The two criminal charges stem from an incident that Grangent claimed happened at Shaw's Supermarket earlier this year involving an ICE agent, police said.
A lengthy investigation revealed Grangent's claim was pure fiction, and no ICE agent was present in the city, Vergennes Police Chief Jason Ouellette said.
That false determination came only after the claims had spread and caused unnecessary problems for both Shaw's and ICE, while also putting some distrust into local community members, including immigrants, the police chief said.
During the 10-week investigation, Grangent made false statements to Chief Ouellette, Detective Harter, Sgt. Mark Barber, Officer Mark Stacey and Administrative Assistant Christina Brace,...
The Hindu reported on Saturday that the Tribal Council in Nicobar islands has written a fresh letter to the Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram about the island administration’s claims of settling t...