BELFAST, Maine — One of the three men accused of impersonating police officers in September in order to steal medical marijuana in Winterport will remain behind bars for at least nine more months.
Scott Roberts, 35, of Glenburn looked very different Wednesday during his sentencing hearing at Waldo County Superior Court than he did on the game camera photos that were widely shared around the state last fall. In those photographs, taken at the victim’s property, Roberts and another man wore black SWAT team gear while the third man, identified by police as 47-year-old Jeffrey Hurd of Glenburn, carried a gun and wore a false sheriff’s department uniform.
The homeowner, a medical marijuana caregiver, asked the intruders to leave his property. The men ran away, but they managed to grab eight of the marijuana plants on their way out, according to Waldo County Assistant District Attorney Neil McLean. Although the homeowner did not immediately call police to report the incident, when he did, the real officers released the game camera photographs to the public to ask their help identifying the three men.
Wearing a prison uniform on Wednesday and using a quiet voice to answer the judge’s questions, Roberts pleaded guilty at Waldo County Superior Court to the charges of theft, impersonating a public servant and criminal trespass. The more significant charge of Class A robbery was dismissed.
Justice Robert Murray sentenced Roberts on the three charges to four years in prison with all but 15 months suspended, and two years of probation. Because Roberts has been incarcerated for four months at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, he has nine months left to serve, his court-appointed attorney Jeremy Pratt of Camden said in court.
“It was a fair sentence based on compromise,” Pratt said after the hearing.
Roberts will spend the rest of his sentence at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, Pratt said. He is the first of the three men involved in the incident to be sentenced.
During his years on probation, Roberts will be prohibited from having contact with the victim and from using or possessing illegal drugs. He will need to submit to random searches and testing and must pay $1,000 in restitution, Murray said during the hearing.
Roberts declined an invitation to address the court.
Jeffrey Hurd and his brother, 45-year-old Kerry Hurd of Bangor, have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In December, Roberts’ girlfriend, April Jones, 28, of Orneville Township, also was arrested in connection with the September incident. According to the Maine State Police, Jones allegedly drove the three men to the robbery. She was charged with robbery and theft by unauthorized taking.