AUGUSTA — City and Maine State Police detectives are investigating a death discovered Thursday morning at an apartment on Mount Vernon Avenue.

Deputy Chief Jared Mills, of the Augusta Police Department, who declined to identify the 43-year-old man, described the death as unexplained but not necessarily suspicious. Mills said the state medical examiner was scheduled to perform an autopsy Friday to determine how the man died and whether a crime took place.

“We really don’t know what the cause is one way or the other. It wasn’t apparent,” Mills said. “I expect some concrete answers in the next 24 hours. We should have answers pretty soon.”

Augusta firefighters and rescue workers were called to 95 Mount Vernon Ave. around 5 a.m. Thursday for a person experiencing a medical problem, Mills said. Paramedics arrived at the apartment to find the man was dead.

However, Mills said the manner and cause of death could not be explained easily, so detectives from the Augusta and state police were called to investigate. Detectives remained at the scene collecting evidence until around noon.

Steven McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said state police sent a couple of detectives to assist with the investigation, but the Augusta Police Department was taking the lead. State police investigate all homicides in Maine except those that occur in Bangor and Portland, which are investigated by police in those cities.

“I suspect this is going to remain an Augusta police investigation,” McCausland said.

A group of about a dozen people congregated outside in a driveway next door at 97 Mount Vernon Ave. as the detectives worked. The group seemed at ease, smoking, talking and drinking coffee. None, however, would comment on the police investigation.

City records indicate the building at 95 Mount Vernon Ave. is a three-family dwelling owned by Steve Quinn. Mills said tenants should be allowed to return to their apartments today.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4

WATERVILLE — A Benton man suspected in a number of property crimes has been charged with felony burglary Tuesday in connection to a home break-in at a Matthews Avenue residence last week.

Jacob Kerby, 22, of Bangor Road, Benton, was arrested by Waterville detectives Tuesday afternoon at a Kings Court residence and charged with class B burglary and theft by unauthorized taking, a class C offense.

Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey said an investigation into Kerby started Oct. 1, when police responded to a reported burglary at a Matthews Avenue home. The owners had returned home to find the back door of the house forced open and a number of items missing, including jewelry worth several thousand dollars, a laptop computer, an iPad and a small amount of cash.

Detective Duane Cloutier, investigating the break-in, suspected Kerby was involved because he was a suspect in a number of other recent property crimes in Waterville, Rumsey said.

Through a confidential informant, Cloutier made contact with Kerby and bought one of the items that was stolen and verified that it belonged to the Matthews Avenue residents, Rumsey said. He did not say what the item was because identifying it could compromise the informant.

Based on probable cause, Cloutier got a warrant for Kerby’s arrest. On Tuesday afternoon, police got a tip that Kerby was at a Kings Court residence in the South End. Officers set up a perimeter around the home, and detectives went in to arrest him, Rumsey said. Detectives assigned the perimeter because they were concerned Kerby could see them coming and would run to escape arrest, he added.

To date, the only property recovered was the item Kerby sold to the police informant, Rumsey said.

Kerby is also a suspect in a number of motor vehicle break-ins that occurred in the South End over the summer, Rumsey said. Kerby has multiple prior convictions, starting in 2011 with two counts of assault, counts of theft and criminal trespass in 2014 and another count of theft earlier this year, Rumsey said.

Class B crimes are subject to a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, and class C crimes are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Kerby has a Nov. 23 court date.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire

A former Bowdoinham man who downloaded sexually explicit images and videos of children while at his parents’ house in Oakland in 2012 pleaded guilty on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to a charge of possession of child pornography.

Daniel Lajoie Jr., 46, who now lives in Oakland, faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 at sentencing. A sentencing date was not immediately available.

Lajoie has remained in federal custody since his arrest on April 24.

Agents from the Department of Homeland Security began investigating Lajoie after they suspected he was sharing sexually explicit videos of children online, according to an affidavit filed with the court by a Homeland agent Monday.

Authorities first executed a search warrant on Aug. 22, 2012, at the home of Lajoie’s parents in Oakland, where his father told them that the son frequently visited and brought his laptop computer with him. Agents on the same day went to Lajoie’s home in Randolph, Loren Thresher of Homeland Securities Investigations said in the affidavit.

During questioning, Lajoie admitted that he downloaded child pornography on his laptop while at his parents’ house and allowed agents to examine his computer, revealing 50 images and 110 videos of child pornography, Thresher said.

Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: @scottddolan

AUGUSTA — A man who robbed a Winthrop Rite Aid in December 2011 is back behind bars on a new drug trafficking conviction.

Anthony R. Caballes-Mabe, 22, known to police as “Taco,” was sentenced Monday in a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center to three years in prison for unlawful trafficking in cocaine. The offense occurred April 8, 2015, in Augusta, according to court records.

The sentence is to run concurrently with a four-year probation violation.

Caballes-Mabe had pleaded guilty Sept. 22 to the new charge. He also was fined $400.

He was convicted previously of a Dec. 7, 2011, robbery of the Winthrop pharmacy and of stealing oxycodone and received a split sentence of three years to serve initially and an additional five years suspended. He was placed on probation for three years.

Police investigating that robbery found white-rimmed sunglasses that had been worn by the robber — something customers who witnessed the robbery described as odd because it was dark and rainy — and pill bottles found discarded between the Rite Aid store and Metcalf Road. Not long afterward, an anonymous caller told Winthrop police that Caballes-Mabe had committed the robbery, according to a court affidavit by Winthrop Detective Peter A. Struck.

Caballes-Mabe, who had previous addresses in Randolph and Augusta, provided an address of Killeen, Texas, on the court documents that he signed after the sentencing Monday.

He also was convicted in 2012 in Kennebec County Superior Court of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.

Other people were sentenced this week during separate hearings at the Capital Judicial Center:

• Randolph N. Murray, 53, of Athens, two counts each of violating a protective order and violating condition of release July 11 to 14, 2014, in Augusta; 180-day jail sentence, all but 48 hours suspended, one year of probation.

• Katina Paquette, 42, of South China, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer Sept. 21, 2014, in Augusta; two-year jail sentence, all suspended, two years of probation.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

A young couple showed up in Kelley Stokes’ store in Oquossoc Tuesday and mentioned they were taking their car to a garage to have it repaired.

Stokes thought the interaction was strange, and the apparent age disparity between the girl and young man gave her a funny feeling, her husband, Charles Stokes, said Wednesday.

Then, on Wednesday morning, the couple showed up at Stokes’ insurance office looking to buy car insurance.

He’d never seen them before, but they fit the description of the couple his wife had spoken to the day before. Armed with their names, he and some others in the office did a little detective work on the Internet.

“I kind of put two and two together and Googled their name,” Stokes said.

Results quickly came back with news stories about a missing Pennsylvania teen and her boyfriend. There were warrants out for the boyfriend’s arrest.

Stokes called the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

Reaghan A. Chase, 15, of Grand Valley, Pennsylvania, was reported missing on Sept. 29. Pennsylvania State Police had a warrant out for the arrest of her boyfriend, Kyle Bedow, 18, also of Grand Valley.

Because of Stokes’ call, Bedow is being held in Franklin County Jail on charges of interference with the custody of a child and concealment of the whereabouts of a child — both third-degree felonies.

Reached on his cellphone Wednesday afternoon, Charles Stokes said his wife met the couple when they came into the Oquossoc General Store, which the Stokeses own, on Tuesday after taking their car to a garage to have it repaired.

“My wife had never met them before. They said they had damaged their car but had now decided to live here,” Stokes said.

He said Chase seemed too young to be with Bedow. “Truly, she (Chase) looked like she was 16 or so. It just didn’t fit right with my wife,” Stokes said.

Kelley Stokes told him about the couple Tuesday night and tried to look them up online but couldn’t find anything, he said.

Then on Wednesday morning, the couple showed up at his office, saying they wanted to buy car insurance. “He was going to get a new Maine license. They were looking for work,” Stokes recalled.

Even though he hadn’t seen the couple before, they fit his wife’s description, he said.

In a news release, Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols said dispatchers got a tip that the two had been seen in Oquossoc and that Bedow’s car was parked at a garage in town. After dispatchers made contact with the garage, they were told Bedow was driving a rental car, which Franklin County Deputy Sandy Burke then found traveling on Main Street in Rangeley, Nichols said.

Burke pulled the car over, arrested Bedow and took Chase into protective custody.

According to Nichols, the couple had been camping in different places over the last nine days and apparently had been living in the woods.

Nichols credited “great communication and caring” among the Stokeses, county communications personnel and Burke for “ending this nine-day ordeal.”

The case is still under investigation and additional charges against Bedow might be pending, Nichols said. Because the crime includes interstate travel, the Maine State Police also have been called in to assist with the investigation, he said.

Staff writer Lauren Abbate contributed to this report.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire

AUGUSTA — A former Gardiner man who spent three years in a home for juvenile sex offenders pleaded guilty Wednesday to possession of sexually explicit materials picturing children under the age of 12.

Christian M. Cooper, 22, of Augusta, was ordered to spend two years behind bars and the remainder of the four-year sentence was suspended. He was placed on probation for six years.

Cooper’s case had been set for jury selection for a trial this week at the Capital Judicial Center. Instead, he opted to plead guilty to the charge and receive a sentencing recommendation supported both by his attorney, Lisa Whittier, and the prosecution.

In exchange for the plea, two identical charges also dated Nov. 12, 2014, in Gardiner were dismissed.

The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Russell, said the charges arose after the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit discovered that child pornography was being downloaded and authorities checked the address in Gardiner.

There, Cooper’s mother told Detective Jason Bosco, “If you’re looking for the person with pedophilia tendencies, that would be my son,” Russell recounted Wednesday for Justice Michaela Murphy.

Cooper was arrested Nov. 12, 2014, and has been in jail since that date.

Russell said Cooper admitted possessing the pornography, and more than 200 images of child pornography — with children appearing to be younger than 5 — were found on his computer. She said the downloads from the peer-to-peer file sharing program appeared to begin in 2013 or earlier.

Cooper also told police he sexually molested a young child, but Russell said the state would be unable to prosecute the case successfully because the child was so young and because of when it occurred.

When the judge questioned Cooper about whether he was guilty of the child pornography charge as described by the prosecutor, he first said, “I imagined a vivid dream.” But then he said he was guilty.

Whittier said Cooper “suffers from some pretty serious autism,” but she believed he understood the charge and the consequences of his plea, and that it was in his best interest to accept the deal.

Both attorneys said Cooper had undergone a mental evaluation and had been found competent, although evaluators pointed out that he had some autism.

The judge also told Cooper that he must register as a sex offender for 25 years under the state’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Conditions of probation prohibit Cooper from having contact with children under 18. He is also banned from possessing devices capable of accessing the Internet unless approved by his probation officer. Murphy, the judge, asked why there was not a complete ban on Internet-capable devices.

“Mr. Cooper spends most of his time playing video games,” Whittier said.

In urging the judge to impose the recommended sentence, Russell said that Cooper had no adult criminal record but that he had been housed for three years at a home for juvenile sex offenders. Russell said there were concerns about the early history of Cooper’s behavior and what appeared to be a lifetime addiction to pornography.

“We do believe he is a serious risk,” Russell said.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

SCARBOROUGH — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday heard oral arguments in the appeal of a man convicted of pushing his wife off a cliff in Camden.

Charles Reed Black was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014 after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder.

The state’s highest court heard the arguments during a session at Scarborough High School. The court held sessions this month at three high schools across the state.

Defense attorney Steven Peterson said Black is appealing whether the state’s evidence was sufficient and whether the court was right to deny his request for a venue change. A judge rejected a request to move the trial because of the amount of attention it had received in the Camden area.

Prosecutors say there was no extensive media coverage that would prejudice a jury before the trial, which took place three years after Black was charged. Assistant District Attorney Christopher Fernald wrote in a court filing that there was more than sufficient evidence to return a guilty verdict.

A jury convicted Black of pushing his wife, Lisa Zahn, off 800-foot Maiden Cliff in Camden Hills State Park after hitting her in the head with a rock in 2011. Both Zahn and Black tumbled down the mountainside and were hospitalized for more than a week. Zahn said she believed he was pursuing her down the mountain, while Black told investigators he had no memory of hitting her or pushing her off the cliff.

Prosecutors said the couple had argued over an affair Black had with an Arizona woman and how he spent a $4 million inheritance from Zahn’s father. Black and Zahn divorced in 2013 after nine years of marriage.

During Thursday’s hearing, Peterson said the evidence presented by the state at trial was insufficient to support a conviction and highlights the lack of pools of blood at the top of the mountain. Zahn had gaping wounds on her head and her brain could be seen, but only a few drops of blood were found where investigators said Black hit his wife in the head three times with a rock.

“It doesn’t pass the straight face test that there wouldn’t be pools of blood,” Peterson said.

But the justices questioned whether the lack of blood disproved the evidence presented that Zahn was struck three times in the head.

“If all of the blood that was pouring out of her head was captured by her clothes, there wouldn’t be much blood on top (of the mountain),” said Justice Ellen Gorman.

Fernald, an assistant district attorney for the Knox County District Attorney’s Office, said the blood was absorbed by Zahn’s long hair and clothing, but also pointed out she was dragged and pushed over the cliff within moments of being struck by the rock.

Much of the appeal hearing focused on Peterson’s assertion that there was prejudice because of the extensive media coverage of the allegations against Black. Peterson said a lower court erred by denying a change of venue request. He said the scene of the alleged assault was a well-known spot and people in the community talked extensively about the case. He also argued that media coverage included information that was later deemed inadmissible at trial.

“This didn’t go away after a year,” he said.

Fernald argued that Black’s defense attorneys did not renew the request for a change of venue and did not object to the jury that was seated. He said jurors were questioned about what they knew about the case and few, if any, had heard much about it. Camden residents were specifically asked if they had heard about the case and most said it was not “the talk of the town,” Fernald said.

Gorman said the issue of venue was more important years ago when local newspapers covered communities extensively. Now, two competing newspapers cover the entire state, she said.

“What difference does venue make now?” she asked.

The court did not rule on the appeal Thursday. While in Scarborough, the justices also heard appeals filed in two other cases and had lunch with students.

Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:

ggraham@pressherald.com

Twitter: @grahamgillian

A former state legislator was sentenced Wednesday to 13 months in prison and three years of supervised release for aiding and abetting visa and marriage fraud and making false statements.

Adam Mack, 39, of Portland, pleaded guilty in March to immigration fraud for his role in a scheme to allow women from Russia and Ukraine to stay in the U.S. illegally, and arranging a sham green card wedding.

Mack was also sentenced to four months in prison for violating the terms of supervised release imposed on him after a 2013 federal conviction for equity skimming, according to a release by U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, Mack filed paperwork between 2009 and 2011 with the federal government saying a woman from Russia and another from Ukraine worked for him, but they didn’t. The documents were used to obtain visas for the women allowing them to remain and work in this country.

Mack also helped arrange a fake marriage in Cape Elizabeth between one of the women, Mariia Shevchenko, and Christopher Segal, who was paid by Shevchenko. The court papers do not say how much Segal was to receive, though he did receive one installment of $800.

Mack helped the couple prepare for their interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but during the interview, Segal confessed that the wedding was a sham.

In imposing sentence, Judge D. Brock Hornby said, “You have been cheating the system all along consistently. It’s the deterrence, both general and specific, and just punishment that I think are critical.”

Mack, a Republican who represented Standish from 1998 to 2000, previously was convicted of misusing federal funds in connection with a property management company he owned. He was ordered to serve six months in prison and repay $384,000 in restitution to the federal government. That fine contributed to his filing in December for bankruptcy protection.