A man will serve two years in prison after being sentenced Tuesday in connection with the death of a Waldoboro man.
Jason Goucher Hewett, 41, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Knox County Superior Court last week in the death of Kyle MacDougall, who police say died in Cushing in 2024 from a gunshot wound. Hewett entered an Alford plea on the manslaughter charge, meaning he maintains his innocence, but admits the state could have convinced a jury he was guilty.
Superior Court Justice Patrick Larson accepted a plea agreement between Hewett and the state, which included a 14-year sentence. Larson agreed to suspend 10 years, and a prosecutor said Hewett has already served almost two years waiting in jail pre-trial. The agreement also comes with four years of probation after he is released.
Hewett was arrested about 10 days after MacDougall’s death, following a 13-mile, high-speed chase that ended with a police standoff in Augusta. Hewett was also sentenced on Tuesday to 18 months on a charge related to the chase. He will serve that at the same time as his manslaughter sentence.
Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis said in court Tuesday that prosecutors “looked at the facts” before offering Hewett a plea deal.
Two other men pleaded guilty in the case in 2024 after identifying Hewett as the person who shot MacDougall. Mark Gagne pleaded guilty that fall to hindering apprehension and abuse of a corpse and John Flower entered an Alford plea that same year to falsifying evidence.
Larson said Tuesday that Gagne and Flowers’ statements to police had been inconsistent and that, although Hewett was “not outright accepting responsibility in the normal sense of the term, he is allowing the family to avoid the trauma of a trial.”
Hewett apologized in court to MacDougall’s family for their loss and for not calling 911.
“The honest truth is, because I was scared,” Hewett said in court, adding that he was afraid at the time because he had a criminal record. “Hindsight 20/20, if I could go back and call 911, I would.”
Hewett’s attorney Andrew Wright said in court that his client had tried rendering aid to MacDougall and was not involved with the later “desecration” of MacDougall’s body.
Police said MacDougall had gone to a trailer where the three men were gathered to buy drugs on July 7, 2024, the day police believe the shooting happened.
MacDougall was a son, father, friend and brother, his sister Amy Robinson told the judge.
“He was a lot of things to a lot of people,” Robinson said in court on Tuesday. “It’s a huge problem in this country, and it’s a drug epidemic. And, Jason, I hope you take this opportunity, in all honesty, to use this sentence, that is fair and short, and better yourself. You have an opportunity to change your life and I really hope that you do it.”
