Sebec man, 77, gets 15 days in jail
12/4/09 | 21 comments
court news

Sebec man, 77, gets 15 days in jail


Convicted of $10,000 theft from blind man, former lawyer ‘humiliated’
By Diana Bowley
BDN Staff

DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — It doesn’t make a difference if a defendant is educated or elderly. In the end, crime doesn’t pay.

That was the message Justice William Anderson gave in Piscataquis County Superior Court on Thursday when he sentenced a 77-year-old former lawyer to 15 days in jail for theft by unauthorized taking.

Herbert Swartz, of Sebec, who pleaded guilty last month to taking more than $10,000 from an elderly, blind friend, was granted a stay in his incarceration until Feb. 15, which will allow him to proceed with a planned medical operation. He likely will serve his time in Piscataquis County Jail. He also was ordered to pay restitution of $11,500.

Swartz paid $5,000 toward the restitution Thursday after the court proceeding, and his former co-defendant in the case, Elizabeth “Bess” Cutler, 59, of Sebec, paid $3,000 toward the restitution last month. Swartz is to pay the remainder of his restitution by April 1.

Swartz and Cutler each initially had been charged with forgery and theft by unauthorized taking. Piscataquis County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy said the charges against Cutler were dropped last month when she paid the $3,000, and the forgery charge against Swartz was dropped in a plea bargain.

“My cup of shame runneth over, Your Honor,” Swartz said Thursday in the courtroom before he was sentenced. “I feel terribly, terribly, terribly humiliated and embarrassed.”

Investigator Guy Dow of the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department initially reported that the couple had taken more than $20,000 from the blind man’s accounts, but the results of a forensic examination showed the theft was $11,500. He said outside the courtroom Thursday that the examination indicated that Swartz had switched the blind man’s funds around among the victim’s five financial institutions to create confusion.

Swartz’s attorney, Richard McCarthy Jr., told Anderson that his client and the blind man had been friends since 2007 and that Swartz and Cutler had taken him on errands and had provided him companionship without any compensation. He said Swartz has no criminal record and that there were multiple transactions made be-tween the two men, including loans that were repaid. McCarthy suggested that his client’s depression and anxiety problems might have played a role in the theft at the tail end of their relationship.

Neither Almy nor McCarthy had recommended jail time for Swartz, based on his age and his health.

Anderson, however, said there needed to be some type of “general deterrence” in cases such as this. He said the theft was not done on the spur of the moment.

In his sentencing, Anderson took into consideration Swartz’s age and health, that much of the restitution had been made and that Swartz was remorseful.

“I actually think he is sorry,” the judge said of Swartz. He also noted that Swartz had been helpful to the victim up until the theft occurred.

Outside the courtroom, Cutler said she had no knowledge that Swartz had taken any money from the blind man.

An attempt to photograph Swartz outside the courthouse was unsuccessful when the elderly man grabbed a reporter’s camera.

dianabdn@myfairpoint.net

876-4579

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Comments
21 comments on this item
On 12/4/09 at 6:43 AM, palamouch2 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Whow!!!15days. He should really learn something from that/ like do it again I will only get 20days!

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On 12/4/09 at 7:47 AM, eastmainer wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

15 DAYS !!! Two Weeks paid vacation. Because of his age !!! Old people can get by with crimes ?

People who help people and then steal from them are scum as far as I'm concerned. I wonder if this Judge would feel the same if it were his father that this happened to. Or himself, should he ever get into the situation where he needs a caregiver.

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On 12/4/09 at 8:16 AM, Native1710 wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 12/4/09 at 8:26 AM, Coolfusion wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

... and no restitution or penality to repay the taxpayer for the cost of the investigation, the audit, and court time which was certainly at least twice the $11 grand.

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On 12/4/09 at 8:56 AM, anthoine wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

the only reason he is sorry and embarassed is because he got caught. if it would have been just a caretaker who was not a lawyer, he would have had alot more time.

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On 12/4/09 at 9:59 AM, PropMgr wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 12/4/09 at 10:42 AM, whaleback wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

15 days......why even bother. Give him some sort of community service sentence of like two years aiding blind folks instead of robbing them.

“My cup of shame runneth over, Your Honor,” Swartz said Thursday in the courtroom before he was sentenced. “I feel terribly, terribly, terribly humiliated and embarrassed.” Gee saws.......doesn't that make ya want to vomit?

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On 12/4/09 at 11:21 AM, valgal10 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

15 days !!!!!!!! Must be because he was a lawyer...knows the system....he should be put in jail and we should throw away the key.....stealing 10,000.00 from a disabled man....disgraceful....

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On 12/4/09 at 11:29 AM, debutante wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

These scumbags were only sorry because they got caught!!

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On 12/4/09 at 11:33 AM, Sadmama wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Come on, Guys! What is gained by all this hateful stuff? It takes more energy to frown than to smile. I know he was a sneak and knew all the loop holes but he's old and humiliated and as you say, by being caught. But I would guess most of us could be humiliated by something in our lives that no-one knows about but us!

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On 12/4/09 at 11:44 AM, realist38 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Old or not, he stole from a blind man! I can say that's a skeleton I can't match in my closet.

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On 12/4/09 at 12:33 PM, boogyman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

“I actually think he is sorry,” the judge said of Swartz. He also noted that Swartz had been helpful to the victim up until the theft occurred."

Does he use the same logic in Murder cases?

BTW, those look like autopsy photos.

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On 12/4/09 at 12:55 PM, valgal10 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Sadmama this man is vile, he desserves more than a slap on the wrist....often times murders are sorry and embarrassed also, does that lighten their sentence?

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On 12/4/09 at 1:15 PM, paying42manyslackas wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Retired lawyer, really? Sounds like he never gave up taking other people's money...

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On 12/4/09 at 1:52 PM, DougLavigne wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

whaleback you really nailed it on the head, he should do many many hours of community serves for his actions, what a back stabbing two face kick you in the nuts when your no looking kind of low life lying stealing Lawyer, you should be proud of yourself Grampa. There enough said about this waste of space.

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On 12/4/09 at 9:14 PM, savingmaine247365 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Are those morgue photos?

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On 12/5/09 at 9:46 AM, joyful wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

jeeze i can hardly wait till i am old enough to steal from elderly blind people! real nice way to make some money. this old man should hook up with the million dollar lawsuit widow, he can be her lawyer!

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On 12/5/09 at 11:53 AM, jtinks wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

lol....they must make their kids proud!! Nice mugs!

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On 12/5/09 at 8:41 PM, BillofAugusta wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

HMMMMMM.....15 days for grand larceny, and from a blind man, at that. Apparently, crime DOES pay. What a scumbag!

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On 12/6/09 at 4:31 AM, noreasternelly wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

just goes to show ya kids, your never to old to bend over!!!!

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On 12/7/09 at 7:16 AM, Farmer101 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Sheriffs department not doing their jobs when they took the mug shorts of these two they should have made them open their eyes.

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