Gilford influencer may be first in state charged under new 'deepfake' law

A Gilford motorcyclist may be the first in New Hampshire to be prosecuted under a new law making creation of “deepfakes” a crime. 

Jaxen Cole, 21, was indicted on Sept. 19, on two felony charges of fraudulent use of deepfakes, a crime created by the state Legislature which went into effect on Jan. 1. 

Cole, according to the indictments, is accused of creating, distributing and presenting an audio likeness of Laconia Police Officer John Skehan on Feb. 14, 2025, which constituted a deepfake.

He waived his first appearance in Superior Court, and pleaded not guilty to both charges, according to a court document filed on Oct. 3.

Cole allegedly posted a video to his Instagram and Facebook accounts which contained video from Skehan’s body camera, in which the officer’s voice was digitally manipulated into saying different things than were recorded in the authentic video. 

He created the video with the purpose to embarrass, harass or cause damage to the reputation of Skehan, according to the indictment.

The reading of Cole's charges, which he waived, was scheduled for Wednesday morning in Belknap Superior Court, after the case was elevated from Laconia District Court in late July.

Cole first appeared in District Court on June 26, and was released on a promise to return, and ordered not to commit any crimes and to appear at all court proceedings.

He’s represented by attorney Allison Ambrose of Wescott Law. Assistant County Attorney Alexander Smeaton is prosecuting the case.

According to a criminal complaint authored by Patrol Officer Kirk Goodheart, the incident in question occurred at the Laconia Police Department at 10:46 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2025. It was not immediately clear why Cole was being questioned at the station.

A video posted to the Instagram account @jaxen_cole on Feb. 14 remains available and includes a caption reading, “You think this cop will be my valentine?” followed by a heart emoji and a rose emoji. “See yall [sic] in Daytona.”

The same video remains available on a Facebook page associated with Cole, who is apparently a skilled motorcycle stunt rider and receives widespread engagement online.

In the video, a man — presumably Cole — is seen sitting on a bench in the downstairs area of the Laconia Police Department. The man is speaking with, presumably, Skehan.

At the beginning of the video, the officer is heard asking Cole if he had a reason for “taking off” up the hill toward Weirs Beach, and if he knew the others who were with him. Then, the officer is heard making congratulatory statements to Cole.

“Jaxen, you are obviously the best at what you do, there’s no doubt. You might find this surprising but I actually really enjoy watching your videos, the video of you riding through the snow you just posted had me dying laughing,” the officer is heard saying in the video.

Ambrose did not immediately return a request for comment.

According to the language of the law, “deepfake” refers to video, audio or any other media of a person in which their face, body or voice has been digitally altered so they appear to be someone else, say something they never actually said, or do something they did not in fact do.

A person is guilty of the felony offense if they knowingly create, distribute or present any likeness in video, audio or any other media of an identifiable individual which constitutes a deepfake for the purpose of embarrassing, harassing, entrapping, defaming, extorting, extorting or otherwise causing any financial or harm to the reputation of the identifiable person.

“AI has progressed to the point where creating humiliating and harassing deepfake videos of people is extraordinarily simple and potentially devastating to the victims, which is why the Legislature enacted the new fraudulent use of deepfakes law this year,” Smeaton wrote when reached for comment about the case Wednesday. “For an individual like Mr. Cole to use AI deepfakes to humiliate and harass one of our police officers for likes on social media is absolutely despicable. We take this matter very seriously, and are confident of the constitutionality of this law.”

Skehan, the officer named in the indictment as the potential victim, was seriously injured in August last year after Justin A. Spirko allegedly struck him with a vehicle intentionally in the Weirs. Spirko was subsequently charged with attempted capital murder.