WATERVILLE — A Thomas College student in a court hearing on Wednesday waived extradition to New York City, where he faces attempted murder and gang assault charges.
Eimel E. Evans, 19, agreed to surrender to New York authorities, who have 21 days to come to Maine to pick him up.
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“Do you understand that the state of New York would like to have you back?” District Court Judge Charles Dow asked Evans. He said he understood.
Evans appeared in court via videoconference from the Kennebec County jail.
Evans, a Thomas freshman who graduated from Cony High School in Augusta in 2012, is held without bail as a fugitive from justice.
The other charges facing him in New York are criminal firearm possession, first-degree assault and gang assault, which stem from a August 2012 shooting in New York City.
He was represented in court Wednesday by defense attorney Brad Grant, a former county prosecutor now with the Waterville law firm of Ferris, Gurney and Crook.
Had Evans objected to extradition, the state of New York would have had to obtain a warrant from that state’s governor to bring him back to face charges.
Waterville police arrested Evans on Monday morning at his campus dormitory.
Evans, who played basketball and football at Cony in 2012, was enrolled in business management classes at Thomas College in Waterville. He since has been suspended from school, pending the outcome of his case in New York.
A spokeswoman for the office of the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner of public information said Evans was one of five men who allegedly beat another man to the ground.
The man then was shot multiple times by one of five, she said, which resulted in the attempted murder charge. The victim survived, she said.
All of the charges are felonies, she said.
Evans also faced five local charges in court Wednesday before the extradition hearing. Through his attorney, Evans pleaded guilty to one court of theft and one count of misuse of identification. Three more charges of misuse of identity were dismissed.
He was sentenced to 24 hours in jail, with credit for time served and ordered to pay $20 in court fees. The matter of $189 in owed restitution was put on hold because of the pending extradition and criminal charges in New York.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com
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