FARMINGTON – Two men were sentenced in Franklin County Superior Court on Monday after pleading guilty for their roles in the break-ins at three convenience stores and two fires that destroyed structures in Wilton and Carthage.
Earlier this month, Duane Bailey, 28 of Carver, Mass., pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary, all Class C felonies, and two counts of misdemeanor theft in connection with the break-ins at the stores. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of arson, with two other arson counts and one count of criminal conspiracy dismissed in the plea agreement with the state.
On Monday Bailey was ordered to serve 46 months or nearly four years in jail of a 12-year sentence, to be followed by four years of probation with several conditions of release attached. Those conditions include paying his share of the restitution to the victims, to have no contact with the victims in the case, to have no use or possession of illegal drugs or alcohol, to submit to random searches and testing by law enforcement and to be evaluated for substance abuse issues.
Co-defendant Devon J. Pease, 23 of Jay, pleaded guilty to two Class C felony burglaries, one misdemeanor theft and one felony aggravated criminal mischief charge in connection with the Wilton fire. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins noted in court that basically Pease rode around with the three other men and although he didn’t actively participate in the crimes he was an accomplice and should be found appropriately guilty for his involvement.
Pease was sentenced on Monday to five years with all but six months in jail and four years of probation with nearly identical conditions of release as Bailey received except he won’t be sharing the $1,000 in restitution for the insurance deductible owned in the Carthage cabin fire. Restitution totaling $1,594 is to go to the three stores and up to $4,400 for the Wilton trailer home.
A third man involved, Einer Bonilla, 22 of Grand Island, Neb., has pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary, all Class C felonies, and two counts of misdemeanor theft. He is awaiting his sentencing. A trial is set to begin Tuesday morning for the fourth man also charged in connection with the arson cases, D’Kota Rowe, 21 of Wilton.
Maine State Police and Jay police officers responded to the reported burglaries at three local-area convenience stores in the early morning hours of July 1, 2015. Our Village Market in New Vineyard, My Dad’s Place in Jay and Skoolhouse Variety in Weld, were all forcibly entered through the front door, with the perpetrators taking alcohol and tobacco products from the latter two establishments.
After receiving information from members of law enforcement and the public after images captured by video surveillance cameras were released to the media, troopers arrested the four men.
Meanwhile, the state’s Fire Marshal’s Office was conducting an investigation into suspicious fires that destroyed a double-wide mobile home on Sewall Street in Wilton and a log-style cabin on Winter Hill Road in Carthage the same night. Investigators believe that all four men were involved with the first fire in Wilton, on June 27, while Bailey, Bonilla and Rowe were charged in connection with the second fire in Carthage.
The Wilton fire was set after barking dogs prevented the defendants from burning a Wilton Main Street residence that belonged to a man with whom some of the defendants had a disagreement with. Instead, that allegedly led the men to burn down a nearby house on Sewall Street in a bid to have the fire spread onto the Main Street resident’s property.
Police said that Pease was dropped off before the three men, Rowe, Bailey and Bonilla, went to burn down the Carthage cabin. Both fires were started by pouring gasoline around the structure and lighting it. It was noted in court that both Bailey and Pease had been drinking heavily at the time of the incidents.
The owners of the Carthage cabin, Gene Casey, Sr. and Andrea Casey, described the work that went into building their cabin. They cleared the lot and built the cabin themselves over a 15-year period. Looking at Bailey, the Andrea Casey said, “we had a lot of love in this camp.” The couple said they didn’t think four years was a tough enough sentence.
Justice William Stokes noted that Bailey’s prior criminal record amounted to an operating under the influence conviction and a criminal mischief charge for writing graffiti. His limited past criminal history was taken into account for sentencing, along with his accepting responsibility for the crimes and aiding investigators with the cases against the other defendants.
In sentencing Stokes said to Bailey: “the effort, the passion” that went into building the cabin “was wiped away because you thought it would be fun to burn it down. Just to get some kicks.”
The story of the camp is heartbreaking, and sounds like a prime chance for restorative justice. If the young men involved had to spend their (supervised) time carefully building a new camp for the Caseys, they would put back some of what they had destroyed and might even learn a marketable skill in the process.