ROCKLAND, Maine — A Thomaston man only will receive fines for striking a seal with his skiff this past summer, sharing Suboxone with his fiancee and driving to endanger if he adheres to terms of a deal approved in court Friday.
Justice William Stokes accepted a plea deal worked out between the Maine attorney general’s office and defense attorney in the case against 27-year-old Adam L. Dodge, who was charged by the Maine Marine Patrol with killing or injuring an animal with a motor vehicle.
Defense attorney Eric “Rick” Morse said his client agreed to plead guilty to that charge and two others as part of a compromise. Morse said his client only admits he hit a seal while coming into shore from his lobster boat in Rockport Harbor on Aug. 13. Morse said several people on land thought Dodge intentionally turned the skiff into the seal while heading to shore.
Dodge also pleaded guilty to a felony charge of furnishing Suboxone in September in Thomaston, as well as driving to endanger on Aug. 21 at the Union Fairgrounds.
A charge of endangering the welfare of a child, which was connected to the Aug. 21 incident, was dismissed.
The felony drug charge will be dropped to a misdemeanor if Dodge refrains from further criminal conduct during the next 12 months. At that point, he will be fined $600 for each offense.
Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley said the Suboxone charge resulted from a bail check by police at Dodge’s residence. The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agent found that Dodge’s prescription of Suboxone was depleted more than it should have been from the time it was prescribed. Dodge admitted he had given his girlfriend some of the medication, Sibley said.
The incident for which Dodge was charged with driving to endanger occurred when police said Dodge sped off in a car after Knox County Sheriff’s deputies spotted him allegedly smoking marijuana in the vehicle while at the Union Fairgrounds. He stopped after a very brief chase. When Dodge was stopped, officers said a 2-year-old was in the vehicle.