WISCASSET — The second of three men charged with setting a fire in 2012 that destroyed a boathouse and lobster boat in Waldoboro has pleaded guilty.
Frederick A. Campbell, 34, of Friendship pleaded guilty July 24 in Lincoln County Superior Court to one count of arson, District Attorney Jonathan Liberman said. Campbell was sentenced to five years in prison with all but nine months suspended to be followed by four years of probation.
Conditions of probation include paying restitution with the amount to be determined at a subsequent hearing. Campbell also is barred from possessing incendiary devices, illegal drugs or alcohol and weapons, and must complete substance abuse counseling to the satisfaction of his probation officer.
Justice Daniel Billings imposed the sentence worked out between Assistant District Attorney Christopher Fernald and defense attorney Peter Rodway.
Campbell’s plea came nearly three years after Jeffrey Luce, 40, of Whitefield pleaded guilty in October 2015 to arson in the case.
The third defendant in the case, James “Jamie” R. Simmons, 43, of Friendship, is scheduled to go to trial in October.
The fire occurred on the night of June 21, 2012, at 3600 Friendship Road in Waldoboro. The fire destroyed a large Quonset hut boathouse owned by Donald Simmons, a lobster fisherman who is not related to James Simmons, and the lobster boat inside. The boathouse was valued at $50,000 and the boat at $150,000.
The affidavit by the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office states that James Simmons was an immediate suspect of the arson investigation because of an ongoing, escalating feud with Donald Simmons.
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