Gov. Janet Mills pardons former firefighters association treasurer who stole $11,000 from group and town of Greenville
By Valerie Royzman, Staff Writer and Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff
A former treasurer of the Greenville Firefighters Association who was serving a sentence for stealing money from the group and the town was recently pardoned by Gov. Janet Mills.
Bruce Reed of Greenville Junction, also a former forest ranger, was indicted in June 2015 by a Piscataquis County grand jury on two counts of theft that took place over five years between March 2009 and March 2014.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison with all but 45 days suspended in 2015 to be followed by two years of probation.
Reed submitted a pardon petition application, which was granted, Jane Tower, pardon clerk at the Maine Department of Corrections, said. This means he has been forgiven for his crime or crimes, but his criminal record has not been “wiped clean,” according to the Maine Department of Corrections website. Maine does not expunge or erase criminal records.
“Rather, information concerning the pardoned conviction is considered ‘confidential criminal history record information’,” the website said.
Other information surrounding the circumstances of his pardon was not immediately available Thursday.
When Reed was indicted, one count was related to the embezzlement of funds from the firefighters association. The other charge was related to Reed’s overbilling the town for firefighter training for himself and his time spent fighting fires. He faced up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, the Bangor Daily News story said.
He paid $11,000 in restitution to the firefighters group and the town of Greenville when he was sentenced, Assistant District Attorney R. Chrisopher Almy said at the time.
Maine’s governor has a constitutional power, called executive clemency, that allows granting someone a pardon or a commutation of sentence following a criminal conviction or juvenile adjudication, according to the Department of Corrections website.
The length of time for the executive clemency process varies. From the time the Department of Corrections receives a petitioner’s completed application, the process typically takes a minimum of six months for the petitioner to receive the governor’s decision, the website said. It could take a year or longer.