Patrick Leeman, 36, of Bristol, paid $7500 in restitution and will serve seven days in jail for stealing from his former employer, Damariscotta Auto Repair.
Leeman, per the terms of a plea agreement, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor theft by unauthorized taking June 5 in Lincoln County Superior Court.
Justice Jeffrey Hjelm found Leeman guilty and sentenced him to 364 days in jail with all but seven days suspended and a year of probation.
Leeman’s probation conditions forbid him to go to Damariscotta Auto Repair or have contact with its owner, Lowell Simmons.
Simmons, in a brief statement to the court, said he supports the plea agreement.
The no contest plea allows Leeman to retain the option of denying the charge in another legal proceeding. His defense attorney, Tom Berry, indicated Leeman might face civil action from Damariscotta Auto Repair’s insurance provider.
Leeman, a former part-time bookkeeper for the Damariscotta garage, stole the money by funneling credit and debit card payments into his personal bank account during an approximately 18-month period from mid-2009 to late 2010.
Hjelm said he accepted the plea agreement with reservations due to the evidence available to support the state’s case.
Hjelm addressed Leeman before handing down his sentence. “[Simmons] put you in a position of trust and authority and you abused that by stealing money from the business and from Mr. Simmons,” he said.
Although the 364-day sentence is the maximum penalty allowable under state law for a Class D crime, Hjelm said he thinks “the crime might be legitimately viewed as being more serious than the seven-day portion of the sentence might suggest,” Hjelm said.
Leeman must also pay a $20 per day jail boarding fee and a $10 victim fee. He agreed to report to Two Bridges Regional Jail by 4 p.m.
