PORTLAND, Maine — A Topsham man waived indictment Wednesday and pleaded guilty to mail fraud in U.S. District Court.
By pleading guilty, Brian Lafrance, 36, admitted that between Jan. 17, 2014, and Oct. 29, 2014, the defendant sought to fraudulently obtain $6,383 by claiming that he was owed for electrical work he had performed at a Portland residence that was then the subject of federal criminal forfeiture proceedings, according to the prosecution version of events to which he pleaded guilty.
The house was owned by Robert Evon, former owner of Port City Music Hall in Portland, He is awaiting sentencing in July on drug conspiracy charges in U.S. District Court in Syracuse, New York.
By pleading guilty to the charges, Evon, 37, admitted his role in shipping 78 kilograms, or 171.6 pounds, of cocaine from California to Vermont hidden in soda machines, according to court documents. Evon agreed to forfeit the home in his plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
Lafrance sent letters between Jan. 17 and March 20, 2014, to the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany and Syracuse, New York, claiming that he had a lien on the home for about $6,383 dated June 30, 2009, for work done on the house, according to court documents. Lafrance had performed electrical work at the music hall and had a lien on that building that was discharged in 2009.
When Lafrance was questioned in October by U.S. postal inspectors, he “was adamant that he did in fact perform work at Evon’s former Spring Street home, but said he had absolutely no documentation to prove it,” the prosecution version said.
Shortly after being interviewed by inspectors, Lafrance called them to say that he had “made a mistake” and never performed work at the home.
Lafrance faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in September.