The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Brian Buglio, 45, of Lattimer Mines, was charged in a criminal information on May 27, 2021, with a civil rights violation.

According to Acting United States Bruce D. Brandler, Buglio, the chief of police for the West Hazleton Police Department, threatened a private citizen with criminal charges, in retaliation for social media posts created by the private citizen that were critical of him and the department.

The case was investigated by the Scranton Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Public Corruption Task Force, which consists of members of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and federal agents from the FBI and Internal Revenue Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo is prosecuting the case.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is one year of imprisonment, a

term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.