Adams Terror Suspect Ciccolo Denies Weapons, Assault Charges
(3).JPG) Attorney David Hoose of Northampton repeatedly declined to comment on anything he learned from his client, Alexander Ciccolo, on Wednesday. |
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Adams man suspected by the government of plotting domestic terrorism pleaded innocent on Wednesday in U.S. District Court to two non-terror charges.
Alexander Ciccolo, 23, appeared briefly before Magistrate Judge Katherine A. Robertson.
He answered to a federal weapons possession charge and an allegation of assault while in the Franklin County lockup earlier this month.
To both chages, Ciccolo answered, "Not guilty."
After the six-minute hearing, Ciccolo's attorney met with reporters on the courthouse steps, but offered nothing in the way of new information. David Hoose of Northampton repeatedly declined to comment on anything he learned from his client.
Hoose told reporters that they would have "ask the government" whether the government would file charges against Ciccolo for plotting terrorism.
On his way out of Hampshire District Court, U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Regan declined to answer any questions.
"No comment" also was a common refrain from Hoose, who was repeatedly asked whether Ciccolo had a connection to terrorism.
He also was asked why Ciccolo was living in Adams, whether he had been visited by family while in prison in Rhode Island, whether he has undergone a psychiatric evaluation while in prison and whether he has had any contact with his estranged father, a Boston Police captain.
Hoose declined to answer all those questions.
"I'm not trying to be vague or illusive, but this is very early on in an ongoing investigation, and I honestly don't have a heck of a lot more to say than what I said when we were here just a couple of weeks ago," Hoose said.
The next court action in the case is a Sept. 29 initial status conference that Robertson scheduled at Wednesday's hearing. That is part of the discovery process, during which the defense will learn more about the evidence compiled by the federal government.
Robertson asked O'Regan whether the government planned to seek a protective order on any of that evidence, effectively keeping it out of the public eye.
O'Regan said it was too soon to say.
"We're still reviewing the material," O'Regan told the judge. "As you know, we asked that Mr. Ciccolo's face be taken out of the video to make it less likely to be used as propaganda for [the self-proclaimed Islamic State].
"We're still reviewing whether to seek a protective order on other things. We will discuss that with Mr. Hoose."
Hoose said Wednesday after the hearing that he did not know how much evidence the government might have beyond the documents entered into evidence at this month's detention hearing.
He did speak speak briefly about how Ciccolo is holding up to incarceration.
"I think anyone who is accused of these kind of charges is viewed with a high level of security," Hoose said. "He is confined to his cell 23 hours a day. It's difficult for anyone.
"I think he's holding up as well as you can expect a young man who has never been in custody before and now finds himself locked up 23 hours a day."
Ciccolo's mother and stepfather attended Wednesday's arraignment. They left the courtroom with Hoose but avoided reporters. Ciccolo's mother covered her face with what appeared to be an article of clothing.
"He's very close to his mother and his stepfather," Hoose said. "He's always been very close to them, and he's very appreciative of their support during this ordeal."
Hoose was asked about Ciccolo's "not guilty" plea to the assault on a nurse in the Franklin County Jail & House of Correction, in light of Hoose's comment at the July 14 bail hearing that his client, "regrets" the incident.
"It's not unusual to enter a not-guilty plea as a formality at the beginning," Hoose said. "There may be defenses, jurisdictional in nature. We certainly wouldn't want to waive anything in that regard at such an early stage of the process."
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