Ten people charged with crimes during the chaotic October Pumpkin Festival weekend in Keene have had their first days in court.
The young men, accused of participating in riots that engulfed the neighborhood around Keene State College, appeared before Judge Edward J. Burke at the 8th Circuit Court District Division Tuesday.
Five of the men — four of them were Keene State students at the time — are facing felony charges of reckless conduct. They are: Michael Bulman of Scituate, Mass., Harrison Gigliotti of Bradford, Mass., Mark Keller of Northborough, Mass., Tory Knaff of Groton, Conn., and James A. Schaefer 3rd of Center Moriches, N.Y. All appeared in court to schedule probable cause hearings for those charges. All remain out on bail and are subject to curfews as well as banned from drinking alcohol or using firearms.
In addition, four current and former Keene State students, Owen Gillis of Biddeford, Maine, Jeremy Schneider of Pleasantville, N.Y., and Michael Schultz of Barnstead all pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct. They all face fines of several hundred dollars.
J.C. Luangoudom of Hudson and Connor Wishart of Barnstead were also arraigned on disorderly conduct charges. Each requested a trial.
Police say Luangoudom stood on top of a car that rioters flipped upside down in a Keene parking lot. Wishart is accused of picking up and carrying a traffic sign that another rioter had pulled out of the ground.
Gregory Vernal of Alton faces a charge of criminal mischief and was also scheduled for arraignment Tuesday morning. He did not appear, and so Burke scheduled a bail hearing for next month.
Police have continued to make arrests in connection with the Oct. 18 and 19 riots during the weeks since.
Keene State College officials announced last week that it had expelled two students and that more than 150 others face less severe disciplinary measures.
Read more in Wednesday’s Sentinel.
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