AUGUSTA — A Waterville man was sentenced to a year and a half in jail after pleading guilty Wednesday to assault and other charges related to a fire in May 2024 that displaced five tenants.
Elijah Seth Yeaton, 32, pleaded guilty to felony charges of aggravated criminal mischief, attempted elevated aggravated assault, and aggravated assault. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed more serious charges of attempted murder and arson.
Yeaton was sentenced Wednesday by Superior Court Justice Daniel Mitchell at the Capital Judicial Center. He will serve nine months in jail on the aggravated assault charge, then nine months on the aggravated criminal mischief charge, and six years, all suspended, followed by three years’ probation, on the attempted elevated aggravated assault charge.
That sentence means Yeaton would spend 18 months at Kennebec County jail, a site specified as part of his agreement, then be released. If he follows the terms of his probation, he’d serve no additional time. However, if he breaks the conditions of his probation, he could serve the full six-year sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Madigan, who prosecuted the case, said the resolution “allowed the parties to reach a plea agreement that recognizes the seriousness of the conduct and consideration of public safety going forward.”
Firefighters from Waterville and surrounding communities responded to a fire reported just before midnight May 3, 2024, at a two-story, three-family apartment house at 6 Front Place, off Front Street indowntown Waterville, not far from the Kennebec River.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and notified the fire marshal’s office. Investigators determined the fire had been set on a second-floor porch outside the rear entrance to an apartment, said Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the state Department of Public Safety.
Five people were displaced as a result of the fire.
Moss said in a news release that the fire marshal’s office, in collaboration with Waterville police and fire departments, as well as Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office, arrested and charged Yeaton.
Yeaton was indicted Feb. 29, 2025 on charges of attempted murder and arson, and arrested the following day.
Moss said Yeaton was known to one of the apartments’ occupants and was familiar with the residence, and was identified as a suspect following an extensive investigation.
Yeaton was in the Kennebec County jail at the time of his arrest on an unrelated matter. He was charged Feb. 18, 2025, with aggravated assault, terrorizing and disorderly conduct in connection with incidents that occurred at the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter in Waterville, said Maeghan Maloney, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties.
He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with the other counts dismissed.
Yeaton’s attorney, Andrew Dawson, said Yeaton has already served almost a year in jail, awaiting resolution of his case.
