Court Briefs: Contractor Guilty of Tax Fraud, Windsor Man Sentenced for Threats

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Windsor Man Sentenced in Threat Case
 
A Windsor man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Springfield for making online threats and extortionate demands.
 
Michael Andrew Rodgers, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 15 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In November 2025, Rodgers pleaded guilty to one count of threatening interstate communications and one count of extortionate interstate communications. Rodgers was arrested and charged in September 2024.
 
On April 5, 2023, Rodgers posted a threat on the Google review page of a Springfield medical practice that stated: "They gonna get what's coming soon. […] Will be there in the morning to get them myself one way or another. Locked and loaded." Beneath this text, Rodgers included an image of a hand holding a gun.
 
On April 6, 2024, Rodgers submitted a threat through a fraud reporting website for the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General with the intent to extort Social Security disability benefits. 
 
Specifically, Rodgers stated: "I m gonna start taking what I need. By any means nessacary. […] GIVE ME MY MONEY OR IM GONNA START DROPPING PEOPLE.  YOULL NEVER FIND MY WEAPONS SO STOP LOOKING AND GIVE ME MY CHECK.  […]  NEXT TIME I SLICE SOMETHING OPEN. IT WONT BE ME. ITLL BE ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN ILL MERC A WHOLE SCHOOL AND NOT GIVE A F***. […] SO YOULL BE MY FIRST TARGET IF YOU KEEP REFUSING TO HELP ME."
 
Windsor, State and Springfield Police assisted federal authorities in the investigation. 
 
Cheshire Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud
 
The owner of a construction company doing business in Berkshire County pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Springfield to a multi-year income tax fraud scheme.
 
Dennis Condron, 76, of Cheshire, pleaded guilty to four counts of tax fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for May 19, 2026.
 
According to the charging document, over a three-year period, in addition to depositing customer payments to his company, D Condron Construction, Condron hid over half a million dollars in customer checks by cashing them and diverting them to his personal accounts.
 
When Condron had his taxes prepared, he did not tell his preparer about the checks he was cashing and diverting customer checks — resulting in his tax returns underreporting the gross receipts of the business by hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a result, Condron kept hundreds of thousands of dollars that he should have paid in federal and state income taxes.
 
Information provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts. 

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North Adams Holds Groundbreaking for New $65M Greylock School

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff

Connie Tatro, a School Building Committee member, and her daycare charges have been keeping a close watch on the project. See more pictures here
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The groundbreaking on Tuesday for the new Greylock School was a mesh of past and present. 
 
As a long line of officials grabbed their shovels for the ceremonial dirt toss, the old school was being taken apart behind them and forms for the footings for the new school were being installed across the way. 
 
And perhaps the most important component of the day were the children from Connie Tatro's daycare in their safety vests, already digging in the dirt. 
 
They will be the first prekindergarten class when the school opens in fall 2027.
 
"This is truly a special moment for all of us as this school is being built as a community school today, we are marking more than start of a construction project," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey. 
 
"We're marking the moment when years of planning, collaboration and community commitment become something real, something visible and something that's going to last long beyond any of us. This is where we truly begin turning work from conception to reality."
 
It's taken three mayors, three superintendents, three school building committees and one contentious vote to get to this point. 
 
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