PORTSMOUTH — A Portsmouth man was sentenced last week after pleading no contest along with another man to obstructing police after posting white nationalist recruiting flyers on utility poles in East Providence in June.

Stephen Farrea, 32, of 37 Souza Way, and Austin Conti, 26, of Warwick, made their please before Judge Joseph P. Ippolito Jr. in District Court, Providence, on Sept. 13.

Farrea and Conti were each sentenced to serve 20 hours of community service. 

Both men are also facing charges in East Providence Municipal Court, where they pleaded not guilty to violating city ordinances by posting flyers on utility poles. That trial is set for Oct. 20.

According to East Providence police, two officers responded to the area of the Silver Spring Elementary School in that city the evening of June 21 after receiving a report of several men posting signs on telephone poles. The officers found posters on numerous poles which promoted the New England-based Nationalist Socialist Club 131, according to police.

The flyers stated that a “social club of nationalists from New England” are focused on “building a network of likeminded men and women dedicated to defending their lands and their people.”

Similar signs were found along the route of the Bristol Fourth of July parade and in Providence, according to multiple reports.

The officers caught up to five men in the front parking lot of the Gordon School, and approached them. A man later identified as Farrea acknowledged that he and others were hanging posters on telephone poles, according to police.

After being told they were trespassing on the Gordon School’s private property, all of the men declined to provide identification at the time, police said. Farrea was charged with obstruction because he first admitted hanging the posters and then denied it, according to police. 

One of the signs posted in East Providence, which resembled the others found in Bristol and Providence, read as follows: “We are a social club of nationalists from New England focused on building a network of likeminded men & women dedicated to defending their lands and their people. We oppose the criminal anti-American & anti-white street gangs such as MS13, Black Lives Matter, and Antifa. We are for us, by use, and against those against us.

“Above all we stand for the security and prosperity of white New Englanders. Our motivations to carry out this mission do not come from a place of hatred, but a love for our own people. No one else will protect us!” 

Another sign had a banner reading, “Have you seen this man?” along with a profile in shadow superimposed with a question mark. It went on to state, “Politically engaged, action oriented, motivate to make change, white male 18+years of age, located in the New England area.”

Both signs included an e-mail so people could contact the organization for more information.