PORTLAND, Maine — One of three men facing federal gun charges stemming from a hunting excursion pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Andrew Bean, 51, of South Paris pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
By pleading guilty, Bean, who was prohibited from possessing firearms because of prior felony convictions for drunken driving and for operating after revocation in 2002 and 2006, admitted to illegally having a shotgun on Nov. 21, 2015.
Bean’s co-defendants are his brother, Stephen Bean, 55, of Norway, and David Foster, 39, of South Paris, according to the indictment. Both have pleaded not guilty to being felons in possession of firearms and are free on $10,000 unsecured bail.
Andrew Bean and Foster originally were indicted in December 2015 by the Oxford County grand jury, according to a previously published report. The Bean brothers and Foster were indicted by a federal grand jury last month.
The charges stemmed from Andrew Bean and Foster’s encounter with members of the Maine Warden Service, who stopped the men as they attempted to join a hunting party last year. The wardens went to the area in Paris in response to trespassing complaints, according to a previously published report.
Stephen Bean was charged after Andrew Bean told wardens he obtained the gun from his brother, according to court documents.
Andrew Bean, who is being held without bail, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, as do the other defendants, if convicted.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in August.