Local man pleads guilty to 11 counts, sentenced to four years in prison

FARMINGTON – An East Wilton man was sentenced to four years in prison today in Franklin County Superior Court, after pleading guilty to an array of criminal charges in five communities.

Samuel Thibault, 27, of East Wilton, pleaded guilty to charges relating to five different cases, including two counts of burglary and one count of theft by unauthorized taking, Class B felonies; as well as two counts of theft by unauthorized taking; passing a roadblock and forgery, all of which are Class C felonies. Thibault also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a schedule drug, failing to stop for an officer and two counts of violating the conditions of his release, all misdemeanor offenses.

Thibault admitted to criminal behavior stretching over the past two years, beginning with an October 2008 complaint in Farmington. While working as a contractor at a home on Archer Road, Thibault stole checks sometime in the late summer or early fall, cashing four of them at Franklin Savings Bank in October to collect $2,924. Thibault admitted to taking the checks, as well as some jewelry, to Farmington Police Department Detective Marc Bowering after the owners of the Archer Road residence realized they were missing.

Then, in September 2009, Thibault was operating a vehicle with an attached dirt bike in the Wilton area, after the vehicle had been reported taken. Wilton Police Department Officer Nathan Reid pursued the vehicle but lost it near Temple, at which point the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department saw someone riding a dirt bike matching the description of the one attached to the missing vehicle. Several deputies pursued the bike down Day Mountain Road, setting up two road blocks which the driver evaded. Later, authorities questioned a witness who had been riding his ATV with Thibault, on the dirt bike, and Deputy Stephen Charles was able to make an arrest.

The guilty pleas also encompass a recently-solved burglary case in Wilton, where a .22 caliber handgun, a 32-inch flat-screen TV, a watch and some rare coins were stolen from a residence. This occurred in March 2009, but Thibault was charged in late January 2010, after WPD Detective Rick Billian developed a description through witness statements.

Another burglary, occurring in Lewiston in October 2009, was also admitted to in court. In that case, $5,000 cash and pair of laptop computers were taken from a residence.

Thibault was sentenced on the Archer Road residence theft charge to four years to a state Department of Corrections facility, with credit for time served from his months spent in Somerset County Jail. The other six felonies carry sentences of three and a half years in prison, served concurrently to the four-year sentence. The four misdemeanors carry six month jail sentences, all concurrent to the four-year sentence.

Once released, Thibault faces a $400 fine and more than $11,500 in restitution to the victims of the various thefts and burglaries. According to his attorney, Kevin Joyce, Thibault stole and spent money to feed a “raging addiction” for which he hopes to receive counseling and treatment for in prison.