DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — The chief pilot with the Maine Warden Service is scheduled to enter a plea later this month on charges of with domestic violence assault, obstructing the report of a crime and criminal mischief, according to the Piscataquis County district attorney’s office.
Charles Later, 54, of Shirley was charged in June, according to Piscataquis County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy.
According to the district attorney’s office, Later is scheduled to enter a plea and be sentenced on Tuesday, Aug. 28, in Piscataquis County Superior Court.
Almy would not disclose the details of the plea agreement on Wednesday.
On June 25, Later’s attorney, David Szewczyk, entered a not guilty plea on Later’s behalf in Piscataquis County Superior Court. Later had requested a jury trial.
Szewczyk was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
Later was charged by the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department on June 3, Almy said two months ago.
Almy said in June that the charges stem from an investigation into an alleged assault on a woman at Later’s residence in Shirley.
He said that Later, who had been drinking, got into an altercation with the victim and while she was trying to call 911 for help, damaged the telephone and shoved her.
After his arrest, Later was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the sheriff’s investigation and a review by the Piscataquis County district attorney’s office, according to Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service, which is conducting its own independent investigation of the incident.
MacDonald said Wednesday that he had no new information on the case.
Later was hired as the warden service’s chief pilot in April 1999, according to the Bangor Daily News archives.
BDN reporter Dawn Gagnon contributed to this report.
Later Later.
A plea deal> Keeps job , small fine > Almy friend. ??
If convicted of a domestic assault, he is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
But he may not plea to domestic assault.
what do you want to bet he gets it dumbbed down to terrorizing or criminal mischief
No winners here. :(
should lose his job,he knows the law,maybe a call to the Governors office…I’ll make in in the am…no one is above the law
Wonder if his firearms were taken?
How many of you out there want to bet that “THE FIX IS IN”!!!! Gets to keep his job, carry a badge, gun bullets, flay a state plane, live of your tax dollars—ETC. Yep, life is “GOOD” when you carry a badge!!!!!
and he earns every bit of your tax $$.This man goes above and beyond his duties.
But that gives him the green light to abuse anyone and everyone—-Yep, the fix is in. If he was “Common Joe” on the street it would very different. Since “IT” (an abuser is not human so I refer as “IT”) is part of the law officers group, not much will come of out as justice. A slap on the wrist and stay on the job! “IT” should be fire right now. NO IF, BUTS, OR ANDS ABOUT THAT. You have your opinion like everyone else, and your opinion is where I wipe every morning. Oh yes, I forgot. Are with Law Enforcement???? Bet that you are——-
State Police trainer, 1st female state police officer driving drunk, Sherriffs tiping off child molesters of pending cases, Wardens of prisons buying state land cheap, Turnpike Executives using public funds as their own with little punishment, now the Maine Warden Service what makes you think this will be different? Nothing to see here folks, move along…….
Big coverage of this. Let’s get a new Chief Pilot and then bemoan the lack of experience the newbie has.
hard to believe anyone in the Maine warden service would have any faults. After all they think of themselves as a bit above the common folk.
I guess many of you think you are judge and jury, too. An accusation is not an admission of guilt. Chief Pilot Warden Later has worked hard for the state and people of Maine and visitor to our state, and he deserves to have his side of the case heard. Not every situation is the same, so don’t paint all with your broad brush.