ROCKLAND, Maine — More than 30 years after he was charged with drunken driving, a Connecticut man finally has received his punishment.
Jean Paul A. Bolduc, 60, of Marlborough, Connecticut, was fined $575 on Monday in Knox County Superior Court on a reduced charge of driving to endanger. Justice Daniel Billings also suspended Bolduc’s driver’s license for 30 days.
Bolduc originally was charged with operating under the influence after being stopped by Thomaston police Officer Larry Bull shortly before 11 p.m. Nov. 3, 1984, on Route 1 in that town. Bolduc was released on bail but failed to appear for an April 1985 hearing and an arrest warrant was issued.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody, who was 2 years old when the charge was filed, said he is not sure what led Bolduc to finally contact the court to resolve his case. But in similar cases, Baroody explained, suspects often come forward because the motor vehicle department in their state has become aware of the warrant in Maine and suspended their driver’s license.
Baroody said the charge was reduced to driving to endanger because of the difficulty in prosecuting such an old case. He also noted that the arresting officer had retired.
Attorney Matthew Bowe of Brunswick, who represented Bolduc this week, did not return a telephone message.
This is the second OUI case from the 1980s being handled in Knox County. A St. Louis, Missouri, man is scheduled to have a trial in March for his 1988 OUI arrest.