AUGUSTA — Fired Clinton police Officer Scott A. Francis will begin serving a 120-day jail sentence March 1 for income tax evasion and perjury.
Francis, 40, of Winslow, also was given a four-year suspended sentence and placed on three years of probation for committing theft by taking $16,033 in workers’ compensation benefits after claiming a work-related injury he suffered in March 2013 prevented him from working. At the time, the state says, he was receiving income using his elver fishing license and he also was evading income taxes.
Francis was sentenced recently in a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center after pleading guilty to four counts of theft by deception, two counts of tax evasion and one count of perjury, which occurred between March 26, 2012, and Dec. 1, 2014. He apologized in court for his actions.
Francis was fired as a Clinton police officer on March 29, 2013, after he was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault and assault involving an incident at his home. Those charges were dismissed later because of insufficient evidence.
Walter McKee, the attorney who represented Francis in the theft and tax evasion case, said Tuesday that the sentence for his client was “firm but fair.”
McKee had argued for an initial 30 days of jail incarceration, writing in his sentencing memo that Francis “has already paid all of his restitution obligations to the IRS and all of his restitution obligations to the Maine Revenue Service, amounting to over $32,500 in restitution already paid.
“Scott acknowledges that he will still owe $16,033 in restitution to the town of Clinton and Maine Municipal Association but his significant work history is such that he should be able to repay these final amounts within the next year.”
McKee wrote that Francis had no prior criminal history, and that he started in law enforcement in 2008 as a game warden before becoming a deputy sheriff in Washington County and then joining the Clinton Police Department.
McKee also asked that Francis serve his jail sentence in Somerset County rather than at the Kennebec County jail because Francis had worked as a law enforcement officer in Kennebec County. It remained unclear Tuesday where Francis would serve his sentence.
According to the indictment against Francis, he perjured himself on Dec. 1, 2014, at an official hearing before the Workers’ Compensation Board by saying that he did not work at all after leaving the town and did not harvest or fish for elvers in 2013 and 2014.
Portions of a transcript from that hearing, included with the indictment, show Francis saying he had an elver fishing license and received less than $2,000 in income from elver fishing each year after his injury date. He is accused of underreporting his income on his 2012 and 2013 tax returns and of intentionally evading taxes those years.
The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin, said in her sentencing memo that Francis earned $36,526 from fishing in 2012, $66,273 in 2013, and $3,481 in 2014 from elver fishing. At the same time, Robbin said, Francis’ girlfriend was earning $10 an hour by taking care of an elderly woman whose home they shared.
Francis’ girlfriend, Bobbi Jo Gilman, 41, also was indicted, on three counts of theft by deception, two counts of tax evasion and one count each of theft by unauthorized taking and perjury. She is scheduled for a March 9 court hearing.
Robbin said Francis committed perjury by lying about his income and his work capacity, and asked the judge to impose an initial 364-day jail term. “Finally his numerous misrepresentations and his resumption of work only 11 days after his alleged work-related injury compel the conclusion that he collected $16,000 in workers compensation benefits by deception,” she wrote.
She added, “The nature of the crime is the confluence of lies made by Scott Francis to obtain money he was not entitled to.”
Francis also was ordered to repay $2,257 restitution for the benefit of the state Department of Labor.
A separate legal action is pending against Francis in federal court. There, he, the Clinton Police Department and the town of Clinton were sued by Randy and Debora Henry over an arrest Francis made in March 13, 2013, because of a noise complaint. Francis arrested Randy Henry, of Clinton, on a charge of disorderly conduct that night.
However, the plaintiffs dismissed claims against the town and its Police Department in November 2015, so Francis remains the sole defendant. He is represented in that case by attorney John J. Wall III and is seeking a summary judgment ruling.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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