BRUNSWICK, Maine — A 24-year-old Maine man will be sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court for scamming customers in Maine and Massachusetts out of tens of thousands of dollars.
The following day, Ervin Morrison III will appear in Portland Unified Criminal Court to face charges that he perpetrated similar theft and fraud in three Maine counties, including bilking a Brunswick business out of $86,000.
Morrison, whose address is listed in court documents as Gardiner, Chelsea and Winslow, pleaded guilty June 16 to federal wire fraud charges, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to court records, in 2014 and 2015 Morrison promised to deliver hundreds of cords of firewood, haul trucks, landscape and refinish floors for five individuals and companies in Maine and Massachusetts, for which he collected more than $27,000 in advance payments, but never delivered.
In one case, a Massachusetts company gave Morrison a certified check for $15,000 as advance payment on a delivery of 500 cords of firewood, which was never delivered.
Morrison was arrested in January in Lisbon and charged with multiple counts of theft and motor vehicle violations stemming from incidents investigated by police agencies in Maine and Massachusetts.
Police had searched for Morrison since the summer of 2015 after receiving complaints about Craigslist services or products — firewood, wood pellets, logging, home repair, etc. — that were never delivered, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said in January.
On Oct. 6, Morrison will appear in Portland Unified Criminal Court to face similar charges out of Penobscot, Kennebec and Cumberland counties.
Among them, he is charged with four counts of felony theft for, among other scams, allegedly accepting a series of checks and cash totaling $86,000 from Brunswick-based Maine Biomass but failing to deliver 522 tons of wood pellets.
Felony charges from Penobscot and Kennebec counties were transferred to Cumberland County for pleading and sentencing, according to court documents.
Morrison was previously convicted of forgery in Sagadahoc and Kennebec counties, and sentenced to two years in jail, with all but 60 days suspended, and $8,315 in restitution for the latter case.
Amanda Doherty, assistant district attorney for Cumberland County, said she and Portland attorney Robert Ruffner, who represents Morrison, will attempt to negotiate a plea deal, but if no agreement is reached, the cases will be set for trial.
“Until he’s sentenced federally, we won’t know what it’s going to look like,” Ruffner said Monday.