SKOWHEGAN — Two men charged with the armed robbery of a Skowhegan credit union in 2009 probably will be tried together, not separately, in federal court, an assistant U.S. attorney said Monday.
Forrest T. Goodwin Jr., 33, of Fairfield and Paul J. Garland, 26, of Oakland, are charged with robbing the Taconnet Federal Credit Union on U.S. Route 201.
Additional Photos
“They’ve been indicted together. Those who are charged together are tried together,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney James McCarthy.
Both men are scheduled to appear for trial in federal court before Chief U.S. District Judge John Woodcock on Jan. 4 in Bangor.
McCarthy said there are instances in which co-defendants can be tried separately, but there must be good reason for the judge to approve separate trials.
He said motions to that effect can be filed by one or both of the defense attorneys, but there are no guarantees they will be granted.
“No co-defendant is entitled to a separate trial just for asking for it,” McCarthy said. “The law is that that they are tried together unless they can convince the court that there are good reasons why the trials should be separate.”
Attorney Stephen C. Smith of Bangor, who is representing Goodwin, did not immediately return a call for comment Monday. Goodwin is being held without bail at the Somerset County jail on a federal hold. He was arraigned last week in Bangor before U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret J. Kravchuk.
Garland, an inmate at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset on unrelated charges, does not yet have a lawyer and has not been arraigned yet on the robbery charge, according to McCarthy.
McCarthy said the assets and deposits of most banks and credit unions are insured either by the National Credit Union Association or by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Robberies of such institutions can be prosecuted at either the state level or at the federal level, depending on the investigating agency and where the investigators chose to present it, he said.
“In this case, the FBI was asked to assist and the FBI brought it to our office,” he said.
The credit union was robbed in June 2009 by a man wielding a knife and wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses. Police said the man escaped as a passenger on a Yamaha motorcycle, which later was discovered, along with clothing the men were wearing, ditched on a tote road off Middle Road in Fairfield.
No one was hurt in the robbery and none of the money taken was recovered at the time.
Both men were indicted by a U.S. District Court grand jury in Bangor. The maximum penalty for an armed robbery is 25 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution. McCarthy said he could not discuss details of the investigation.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.