A mistrial has been declared in the case against a former Ogunquit town manager, accused of pocketing hundreds of dollars in illegally charged parking fees.
After four hours of deliberations, the jury told the judge they could not reach a verdict in the trial of Tom Fortier, the former town manager accused of two misdemeanors, theft and official oppression.
After jurors told the judge they were deadlocked, the judge declared a mistrial.
Prosecutors had accused Tom Fortier of misusing his position as Ogunquit town manager to illegally charge for parking on the evening of July 4, 2016, and pocketing $400 of those parking fees for himself.
Fortier says he was helping volunteers park cars, but never took any money.
In the end, the jury was deadlocked.
Fortier’s defense attorney says small town politics led to this trial, and Fortier called the whole ordeal character assassination against him.
“My kids, my wife, my mom and my dad had to listen to some of these things that were said,” Fortier said. “And that’s the really unfortunate part about this whole case.”
No word yet from prosecutors on whether they plan to retry Fortier.
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