AUGUSTA — A Shelburne, Vermont, man, apparently 33 years on the lam, was seen by a judge here Friday.
Francis Stevens, 62, had been indicted in August 1984 in Kennebec County on charges of operating after habitual offender revocation and operating after suspension.
Records on buff-colored paper at the Capital Judicial Center say he was stopped on April 6, 1984, in a 1972 Chevrolet on South Belfast Avenue in Augusta.
He later waived his right to have a jury trial, and the last entry in the case is one dated July 29, 1985, when his attorney in the case, Norman Bourget, filed a motion to withdraw at his client’s request.
On Friday via video from the Kennebec County jail, Stevens accepted a plea deal offered by the state. He pleaded guilty to the charge of operating after suspension in exchange for a sentence of seven days in jail and a $250 fine and the state dismissing the habitual offender charge.
Judge Tammy Ham-Thompson imposed the recommended sentence and asked whether Stevens was to serve the time immediately or was seeking a stay.
“He’s served four of those days and he’ll finish that up,” said attorney Stephen Bourget, who was serving as lawyer of the day and who told the judge that Stevens originally had been represented by his father.
According to Stephen Bourget, Stevens was stopped in Eastport on Wednesday after watching a fireworks show. Officers arrested him after seeing the 33-year-old warrant.
No other information was available about Stevens in Kennebec County.
It appeared that Stevens ended up at the Kennebec County jail after answering to other 1984-85 charges in Machias and then being brought to face the Kennebec County charges.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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