BUCKSPORT, Maine — A logger accused of not paying for trees harvested from a lot in Bucksport claims he never meant to withhold payment for the timber.
“I had every intention to pay,” said Paul MaGuire of Prospect, who along with his son, David, had contracted to harvest at a 98-acre lot owned by Kelly Hannaford, of Bucksport.
Hannaford had accused the father and son of stealing wood after allegedly not receiving payments over several months and eventually losing contact with the MaGuires. She contacted Maine Forest Ranger John Cousins, who issued summonses to Paul and David MaGuire on the lesser offense of failure to pay for trees harvested, a civil infraction.
Maine law requires loggers to pay landowners for lumber within 45 days of delivering the wood to a handling or processing facility. Failure to pay for trees harvested carries a maximum fine of $1,000 plus restitution based on handling or processing facility receipts.
On Wednesday, July 18, an article about the MaGuires’ charges was published online at bangordailynews.com. Between the article going online and being published in print Thursday morning, MaGuire made a $1,000 payment to Hannaford, he said. Cousins confirmed the payment.
MaGuire said he “owed for the last couple of loads of wood” after harvesting Hannaford’s property from January to April, and had reached an agreement with Cousins to pay Hannaford $5,000. Regardless of payment, the MaGuires will still have to appear in court on Sept. 18.
“The $5,000 is more than we owe her, but I agreed to pay it just to be done with it,” MaGuire said. “Nobody ever had any intentions of not paying her for what we owed,” he said.
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
I’m not judging the veracity of Mr. MaGuire’s claim that he was going to pay however I do find it just a tad coincidental that he made payment right after the summons and the first news article in BDN.
yeah, right………and pigs can fly today (if you tell them you are about to print a news story tomorrow)
Clear the runway…here comes a rump roast!! Hahaha!
If I was Kelly Hannaford i would ask the court for a survey by a forester to get a grand total of the wood harvested and it’s value and what amount of money she should have received. All paid for by the logger. one bad logger makes it hard for other loggers.
Lotta wood thieving going on.Im glad to see some thieves getting nailed..
Ya right….good try THIEF !!!!!!!!
done in April -still haven’t paid “for the last couple loads” (my foot) in July?
ha. ha. who do you think you are? the government? pay the lady from the money you ALREADY got from the mill where i’m sure you sold it in April.
isn’t that better than being know as a thief and/or derelict?
I had one of my lots harvested without my permission, they got about $10k worth of timber, sold it to different papermills, the guys got caught, one of them signed my name to a contract. It went to court. They each got a $50.00 fine and I got NOTHING! No restitution, not one red cent!
You needed a better lawyer..
Get a good lawyer and sue them in Civil Court. If you have proof then sue.
when I read this story what immediately pops up to me is the guy knew he was busted so he made a payment , then says well i’m giving her extra money and I never met to not pay. Bullcrap he’s trying to make himself look good now since he had from April to July to pay. He’s a crook that gives other hard working HONEST wood cutters a bad name! The other problem is the bad wood cutters get such little fines that they laugh when they get the fine.
This sounds like MaGuires was trying too pull a fast one.
Exactly!! The old adage, proof is in the pudding! They can cry foul all they want….there are reactions to ones actions!
pondering1980
You should have got a good lawyer…
Like I said, the good lawyer wanted almost the amount of my loss, up front, to try and litigate the case. So, I am already out the initial $5,000, and spend that much to get it back, hmmm
I had a similar situation happen a couple of years ago, the logger I am sure intended to pay me, but was a poor businessman, bought equipment with the money I should have been paid. The Maine Forest Service was not any help, John Cousins told me there was no sense in prosecuting the logger as he didn’t have anything and would not likely be able to pay me. The DA declined to bring action. My loss was around $5,000. An Attorney wanted almost that much as a retainer to sue the logger…..It appears to me that the law is a joke, and that the Forest Service is impotent, unless of course they only take on cases where they think they can win?
I am the landowner. I am not being paid for more then is owed me. The investigation that derived at the $5000.00 is from slips that the Maguire’s took to the mills, received payment, kept the slips and money. Paul was the driver taking these loads to the mills. I fired Paul in February as I had asked where a load of birch was as I had not received a slip for it. His response was there was no birch. I have a picture of that load on my cell phone. When I fired them the son begged me to let them stay as he had 3 mouths to feed and said it was a miscommunication and my load of wood had been unloaded at Paul’s home in prospect. I made it clear that was not to happen again. The son blamed the dad. I gave the son another chance and I would come home from work and see the tire tracks leaving my yard onto the highway. I would ask why there were no payments to be told they had break downs and no loads went out. In April 3 weeks went by that they would not return any calls. I contacted the ranger for an investigation. Word got back to them as to my investigation and the son harassed me by text from 9pm – midnight that night. The next day he threatened to get the police involved and I notified the ranger. Police were involved and David did receive a warning. I had requested that they not move any wood until the ranger was brought onto the case. Their skidder remains on my property as it is an agreement until restitution is made. I have text messages where the MaGuire’s claim to owe me for 2 loads of wood. 2 loads do not equal $5000.00 and had I not called an investigation to be done they would have gotten away with it. There was no attempt to pay until I called the media. When I made it clear I was going public to educate the public I received one payment in the amount of $1000.00. This morning channel @JustSayin56:disqus did an interview and upon calling Paul Maguire he has stated to Ranger Cousins he has the money to pay. It is odd there was no money to pay me back until the media was involved. The comment was also made by Paul to the ranger when the investigation started that he might have missed a slip. That’s one big slip!! Anyone that would like to see my wood lot for themselves are more then welcome to come take a walk and see for themselves. Take a look at the trash, hydraulic oil buckets, soda bottles, wrappers that these guys left over 98 acres of land. Repairs done to the skidder in ds with all the fluids being poored on the ground. When I asked about that t son said, ” Do you want money or do you want us on litter patrol?” This is not my first harvest. This has been in the family for 40 years. This is the first time that I have had my land raped and dealt with a dishonest harvester. I will say there are some great people out there. Word is out as to my situation and A & L Logging has stepped up to the plate to try to save my losses. They have been taking all of that the Maguire’s dropped and left to the mills for me. It costs these men money to move equipment but they did it because of morals, not money. The slips speak for themselves, they owe from January forward to March….I can prove it, can you prove otherwise Mr. Maguire. You sat at my kitchen table stating you were honest and paid the best. Your rates mean nothing when pay for all the loads doesn’t happen with the landowner. Now we know why you two were upset I asked for an investigation….I have nothing to hide…Can you say the same? I would like to thank the following: Ranger Cousins, Officer Bishop of the Bucksport Police Dept., Bangor Daily News, Channel 2, along with a special thanks to A & L Logging. A & L Logging has been instrumental in cutting the losses for me of trees that were downed all over my land and never made it to the mills. I have told no lies….I stand behind my article and I stand behind the publics right to know. I am owed the money from slips they werpaid on…end of story!
This will be on Channel 2 this evening…check it out…5pm- 6pm
I just watched this on Ch 2 and Paul made the comment he paid me in cash…Not for the loads he owes me for. I received cash and checks and that is matched to the slips that I turned over to the investigating ranger. The cash received plays no factor into what I have not been paid for. Again, pay attention to the details of the story. He is being accountable for the slips he kept and never paid me for nor did I know about those loads. As to dragging your name through the mud…you did that to yourself. I have been honest. I was not even paid the correct amount on those loads as they skimmed off the top on those. I challenge Paul to let all of these slips and totals be shown to the public…let’s see who is telling the truth. I never denied receiving cash and checks. The slips he did present have those dollar amounts written on them….Whether or not there is an agreement this story warrants educating landowners….I feel no need to protect you….you never attempted repayment until the media grabbed ahold of this story….Again…money due me is from my wood that went to the mills and the Maguire’s were paid from January through April….slips they never told me about, never paid. I never would have known without the investigation being done. Money received was for slips they presented and there was money taken from those loads. It is all in black and white….Let’s show the public everything Mr. Maguire and let’s see who is lying…..
‘I had every intention to pay,’. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
And it always sounds good….I have no reason to tell a lie….again, anyone that would like to take a walk in the woods is welcome to my property….no admission required! :) I have documentation to back my claim….
So this self employed logger set out to cheat you from the begining. Ther is no excuse for not paying. I agree with you on that point. Does Mr Maguire appear to living large off your money??
I have been active in business for many years, and i have had good deals and bad. I have always taken full responsibilty for keeping my customers within limits of a deal, either written or spoken.
I also believe the intention was to pay you, but when something breaks or it is too muddy or for whatever happens, any self employed person believes in thier own mind they could catch up. When it doesnt happen it becomes a snowball effect and things go from bad to worse. I have seen things like this happen many times.
I hope for your sake you have your facts 100% correct. There is nothing a competiter enjoys more than dragging someone elses work through the mud, whether it be a carpenter, logger, fisherman or anyone else.
I never would have let someone keep harvesting if I was not seeing any money, and i definatley would not show my ignorance by bringing my problems out into the public forum. If i was Mr. Maguire, you would be waiting one long time for your money and i would sue you just for sport, wich I am sure he would do, if he had the MONEY.
It is 100% accurate. Since the media has become involved he has made $1000 in restitution and claims to have the rest as of today. I am not dragging anyone through the mud and was given a justification by his son. At that point I was not aware of the thefts going on. It was in March and April that things spiraled. The investigation revealed it. I actually have enough that I could sue them….So feel what you might…not my responsibility to pay for his repairs. For not liking the public forum you are commenting….I have done nothing wrong. I gave them work….believe what you want..I know the truth and so does Mr. Maguire….
By the way, I had a friend that sanded the whole yard from the main road all the way up into the woods so they could keep working. I was very good to them.