FARMINGTON – A Franklin County grand jury indicted 18 people with a total of 39 charges during a session held on Wednesday.
An indictment means that after considering the evidence a district attorney has presented, a grand jury believes there is probable cause, or a “reasonable belief” that the crime occurred. A grand jury of up to 23 people need not be unanimous and does not need to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.
Among those indicted according to court documents was Eric J. Wilding, 53, of Phillips on a Class B gross sexual assault charge, with the alleged victim being under the age of 16.
A Franklin County Sheriff’s Office investigation which began on Dec. 15, 2016, after Deputy Andrew Morgan received a complaint about an alleged sexual assault of a minor.
According to Sheriff Scott Nichols at the time, Morgan conducted the initial interviews and was later assisted by Lt. David St. Laurent in the investigation. As a result of Morgan and St. Laurent’s investigation and interviews, Wilding was arrested at his home in Phillips on Dec. 20.
Other residents indicted by the grand jury are:
Mark D. Barrett, 59, of Farmington, was indicted on a Class A charge of aggravated trafficking in schedule drugs, a Class B charge of conspiracy to commit, a Class C charge of illegal importation of schedule drugs, and two criminal forfeitures.
David Lee Boulette, 49, of Farmington, was indicted on a charge of Class C theft by deception.
Jacqueline Marie Bowie, 55, Jay, was indicted on a Class C charge of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.
William B. Bowie, Jr., 56, of Jay, was indicted on charges of Class C reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, Class C criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, and Class C possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Michael A. Davis, 21, of Farmington, was indicted on two Class A charges of arson.
Danielle Ayala Dineen, 29, of Jay, was indicted on a Class B charge of conspiracy to commit, two Class D charges of unlawful possession of schedule drugs, a Class E charge of unlawful possession of a schedule drugs and a Class E charge of a violation of condition of release.
Shane P. Dineen, 29, of Jay, was indicted on a Class B charge of conspiracy to commit, two Class D charges of unlawful possession of schedule drugs, a Class E charge of unlawful possession of schedule drugs and a Class E charge of a violation of condition of release.
Mark J. Garner, 25, of Rangeley, was indicted on a Class A manslaughter charge and a Class B charge of aggravated criminal operating under the influence.
Toby Hellgren, 62, of Temple, was indicted on a Class B charge of aggravated assault and a Class D charge of domestic violence assault.
Mark D. McCormick, 33, of Farmington, was indicted on a Class B charge of aggravated assault, and two Class D charges of domestic violence assault.
Jeromy C. Merchant, 36, of Livermore Falls, was indicted on a Class C charge of criminal threatening.
Andrew C. Ryder, 31, of Wilton, was indicted on a Class B aggravated assault and a Class D charge of domestic violence assault.
Gail M. Schmidt, 51, of Farmington, was indicted a Class C charge of unlawful possession of a schedule drugs.
Guy E. Stevens, 42, of Temple, was indicted on a Class A charge of aggravated trafficking in schedule drugs, a Class B conspiracy to commit and a Class C charge of illegal importation of schedule drugs.
Joseph A. Varricchio, Jr., 34, of Fairfield, was indicted on a Class C charge of aggravated unlawful furnishing of schedule drugs, Class D charge of refusing to submit to arrest and a criminal forfeiture of firearms.
Nicole S. Waas, 31, of Buckfield, was indicted on a Class C (one prior) operating after revocation and a Class E charge of violating of condition of release.
Cory A. Williams, 34, of Farmington Falls, was indicted on a Class C (two priors) operating after revocation.
Major vent. Out of the indictments I see six are drug related. Now I get it – drugs ARE a problem not just in Maine but throughout the country. Many promising young lives are lost because of them. But on the flip side, there are people with chronic and severe pain who are either being denied prescription drugs or in my family members case, had them abruptly stopped after several years. His RX bottle said “Take every 6 hrs as needed” so that’s what he did. He has extremely severe arthritis but being of the generation where they didn’t take pills, unless the pain was really bad he didn’t take them. His specialist of 15 years is under the umbrella of a Maine hospital. They implemented a policy that anyone on narcotics had to have blood work. His came back indicating he wasn’t saturated with the medication so boom! Stopped! Even though he RX said “as needed”. Now I watch him suffer n his retirement years, when he should be enjoying himself. Instead, just rising from a chair causes him pain. He can barely do anything with his hands. It hurts me to see a 73 year old man who worked 47 years, 40 of which were spent in the confined cab of a tractor trailer as an OTR driver, not be able to enjoy the simple everyday things because of severe pain. We as a family have talked to his specialist but he says his hands are tied by hospital and state policy. We even talked to his PCP but his policy is if a doctor stops your pain medication for any reason, he won’t touch the subject. So bottom line is someone who worked hard, never had trouble with the law, obeyed the rules of society, has to live in constant pain at age 73 because of illegal drug activity by others. It’s disgusting and worse, it’s terribly unfair.
Medical marijuana is often helpful with pain and can be gotten with the proper doctor’s vetting. Has he tried to get that? Such a shame that he should suffer because of doctors over prescribing opioids in the past has led to this epidemic, and now overreaction of curtailment to people who have shown they use them responsibly. The law needs modification so that those in real physical pain can have them.