BANGOR — Former Chelsea selectman Carole J. Swan and her husband, contractor Marshall Swan, pleaded not guilty this afternoon to a series of federal offenses.
 

The Swans were arraigned about 30 minutes apart in separate hearings by Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk in U.S. District Court in Bangor.
 

Carole Swan, 53, of Chelsea was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 29 on 17 charges including three counts of extortion, and she and her husband are both accused of working together to defraud the Federal Emergency Management Agency of money and failing to report more than $600,000 in income to the Internal Revenue Service.

 

Carole Swan was accompanied by her attorney, Leonard Sharon, and she responded to the judge’s questions in a steady voice.

 

Marshall Swan was represented by attorney Walter McKee.

 

The Swans are free on personal recognizance with conditions that they do not violate any laws and that they avoid contact with any potential victims or witnesses in the case.

 

The only named individual in Carole Swan’s case was Whitefield contractor Frank Monroe, Sharon said.

 

However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Clark told the judge that in light of the tax and federal program fraud charges, his concerns about Marshall Swan involved contact with “86 individuals and corporations from which he received income.”

 

Clark said it could include people from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Maine Emergency Management Agency who dealt with the Windsor Road culvert project as well as people who worked for the Town of Chelsea and were involved in the awarding of contracts.

 

“We’re obviously not trying to trick the defendant here,” Clark said. “We believe that (the defendant) should avoid contact with individuals who were selectmen, town managers, and employees of the Town of Chelsea from 2005-1010. It is the intention to prevent any coercion or intimidation of victims or witnesses.”

McKee said he might file to amend the list on behalf of his client.

“He still runs a contracting business in Chelsea,” McKee told the judge.

Kravchuk put both cases on the May trial list, but said she would agree to allow attorneys more time to prepare after Clark told her there were “hundreds of thousands of pages of discovery.”

 

The spans actions over five years and was investigated by five different federal agencies as well as the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.

 

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