SKOWHEGAN — The last of three defendants charged in connection with an armed robbery a year ago in Norridgewock entered a plea agreement Wednesday at the Somerset County Superior Court that largely spares her from prison time.

The other two defendants charged in connection with the Dec. 6, 2023, incident, which drew a heavy police response and led area schools and businesses to lock their doors for several hours, pleaded guilty earlier this year.

Alexandra L. Goards, 38, of Waterville pleaded guilty to a Class C count of theft by unauthorized taking and a misdemeanor-level count of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.

On the felony theft count, Goards was sentenced to five years in prison, with all but 48 hours, the time she already served in jail, suspended, and two years of probation. On the misdemeanor, Goards was sentenced to 48 hours in jail concurrent with the other sentence and ordered to pay a $400 fine.

Per the negotiated plea agreement reached between prosecutors and Goards’ attorneys, Elizabeth Gray and Jennifer Cohen, prosecutors dismissed more severe charges for which Goards was indicted: one Class A count of robbery, one Class B count of unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs and one Class C count of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.

The two arrested with Goards following the December 2023 police search pleaded guilty and were sentenced earlier this year, according to court records.

Yavier Coralin, 38, of Waterbury, Connecticut, pleaded guilty in August to one Class C count of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and one Class E count of failure to provide correct name, court records show. Prosecutors dismissed two Class A counts of robbery, one Class B count and one Class C count of theft by unauthorized taking, one Class C count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, one Class C count of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and one Class D count of assault.

Coralin was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a $400 fine, according to court records. As of Thursday, he was incarcerated at the Maine State Prison in Warren, according to Department of Corrections records.

Zaydi F. Issah, 30, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in September to the same two charges as Coralin — one Class C count of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and one Class E count of failure to provide correct name — court records show. Prosecutors dismissed two Class A counts of robbery, one Class B count and one Class C count of theft by unauthorized taking, one Class C count of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and one Class D count of assault.

Issah was sentenced to five years in prison with all but 273 days suspended, to be followed by two years of probation, and ordered to pay a $400 fine, according to court records. Issah has since been released from prison, according to Department of Corrections records. Court records show the case was moved to Kennebec County in October for a probation violation hearing.

Coralin, Issah and Goards were arrested Dec. 6, 2023, after an extensive police search in Norridgewock that involved resources from several law enforcement agencies, including tactical teams and aircrafts. The search was prompted by a reported armed robbery and assault at a residence on Airport Road in Norridgewock, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office said then.

For several hours while police searched the rural, wooded area, all Maine School Administrative District 54 schools went into “lockout,” a procedure during which doors are locked and students are not allowed to exit. Residents and businesses in Norridgewock, including Waste Management and New Balance, were also advised to stay inside and lock their doors.

An Airport Road resident reported that her upstairs neighbor was robbed, according to affidavits written by Detective Wilfred Dodge of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office to support probable cause for the trio’s arrest.

Goards was soon located by police near the residence, the affidavit says. She told investigators that two Black males, later identified as Issah and Coralin, forced her to participate in the robbery.

Goards and the victim, Everett Reichart, knew each other, the affidavit says.

After the two men robbed Reichart, they and Goards tried to leave in Goards’ vehicle, but the resident who reported the robbery smashed the car windshield, according to the affidavit.

Another vehicle then arrived and blocked in the trio, and they then tried to escape in that car but were stopped by its driver, the affidavit continues.

The three ran off into the woods, and Issah and Coralin were eventually located at Baker Farm on Mercer Road in Norridgewock, also known as U.S. Route 2, with cash and a bag of tan powder, the affidavit says.

Investigators said after arresting the three suspects that they were not cooperating or identifying themselves.

The Sheriff’s Office provided multiple spellings of Coralin’s name after his arrest, and multiple spellings for Coralin’s and Issah’s names appear in various court records. Coralin also has multiple aliases, according to Department of Corrections records.

Assistant District Attorney Briana White, a prosecutor in the Somerset County district attorney’s office, said in court that if Goards’ case went to trial, the state would present testimony from several witnesses describing the series of events, which largely followed the narrative in Dodge’s affidavit. Those witnesses included the victim and the other resident who smashed the car windshield, as well as a Maine game warden and Dodge, the detective.

When booked at the Somerset County Jail in Madison, White said Goards was found possessing fentanyl.

Goards and her attorneys had no objections to prosecutors’ description of what happened.

White said the state reached the plea agreement because of Goards’ role in the incident and determined probation would be a better option than more prison time.

“She was not the aggressor” and was unarmed during the incident, White said. There was also evidence Goards felt she was in danger, White said.

Goards has done more than the “average criminal defendant” in receiving treatment for substance use disorder and has passed many drug screening tests, White said. Goards is also the mother and primary caregiver of a young child who needs specialized care, who was in the courtroom Wednesday.

Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Mullen, who accepted Goards’ plea and the agreed-upon sentence, said he would usually be skeptical of a plea agreement with a prison sentence nearly entirely suspended.

But Mullen said it seemed Goards has turned her life around, and he noted she has never been on probation before.

“I’m hoping that I’m not making a mistake by going along with this,” Mullen said, before wishing Goards luck.