Donald Shields, 66, of Boothbay Harbor and Augusta, has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for theft in connection with an advance-fee loan scheme he operated.
Shields pleaded guilty to one count of theft by misapplication of property that occurred between 2004 and 2006, and was sentenced in Kennebec County Superior Court to two years in prison with 13 months suspended, and one year of probation.
He also paid $10,200 in restitution, and three related counts of theft by deception were dismissed.
Shields had previously been convicted of five counts of aggravated forgery in Lincoln County in 1999, and served more than a year in federal prison for committing two counts of mail fraud before that time.
Shields’ loan scheme targeted ailing businesses unable to obtain conventional financing, defrauding four people by taking their money, promising to get them commercial loans that he never delivered.
