Lawyer For Salem Police Captain: Arrest Was 'Inappropriate'

SALEM, NH — The attorney for a Salem police captain arrested Thursday on a tax fraud charge has lashed out at the federal government calling the arrest inappropriate and an issue that should have been settled administratively.

Michael Wagner, 48, of Pelham, a Salem police captain currently on administrative leave due to an internal investigation of the department on another matter, was arrested Thursday on a single charge of filing a false tax return. The charge is based on an investigation of his 2013 tax returns an indictment stated involved unpaid taxes on $33,000 of profit made by Wagner when he resold rifles he bought with a police discount from the Sig Sauer Academy in Epping.

The charges were based out of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, Massachusetts.

David Vicinanzo, a leader of Nixon Peabody LLP’s Government Investigations & White Collar Defense practice group, called the arrest of Wagner "particularly inappropriate" given his "dire health condition of end-stage kidney failure and imminent need for a transplant" and the new coronavirus pandemic.

"The single charge involves a disputed tax amount of a few thousand dollars from seven years ago that could have been resolved as an ordinary administrative matter," Vicinanzo said in a statement. "The government should not have escalated this minor tax dispute into an unprovable criminal charge at any time, let alone in the middle of a global pandemic."

Wagner, Vicinanzo said, had served the Salem community "honorably for 20 years as an officer," working with the regional SWAT team, and as a firearms instructor.

"He is a strong supporter of citizens’ Second Amendment rights and engaged in his firearms hobby responsibly and lawfully through federal firearms license holders (FFLs)," Vicinanzo added. "A political feud between Salem’s town manager and police department led to an investigation into the department that produced no evidence of wrongdoing by Capt. Wagner. Instead of closing the matter, the authorities have now demonized Capt. Wagner’s firearms hobby and Second Amendment rights."

Vicinanzo said Wagner "is proud of his record of honorable police service. He and his family look forward to his vindication."

Wagner faces up to three years in prison, a year of supervised release, and up to a $100,000 fine if convicted of the charge.

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