A Somerset County judge agreed Wednesday to give an attorney for former Anson tax collector Claudia Viles, who is accused of stealing more than $400,000 from the town, more time to prepare her defense.
Viles, who resigned in September, is charged with theft, tampering with public records, five counts of failure to make and file state income tax returns and six counts of failure to file or pay state income taxes. The charges stem from an investigation by Maine State Police and the Maine Attorney General’s Office into the disappearance of the excise tax money.
The case originally was scheduled for trial Nov. 2. A new trial date has not been set, defense attorney Walter McKee said. A message left at Viles’ home late Wednesday was not returned immediately.
In a motion filed last week in Somerset County Superior Court, McKee wrote that the amount of information in the case is “voluminous” and that he is in the process of meeting with Viles to review information revealed by the criminal investigation.
“An expert may well be retained. The case is not ready for trial in November,” McKee wrote.
“The case involves thousands of documents and simply requires significant time to review, prepare and defend,” he said in an email Wednesday. “That’s why we aren’t in a position now to address the case.”
Maine Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin, who will prosecute the case, has indicated she does not object to delaying the trial, according to the motion filed by McKee.
Judge Andrew Benson approved the postponement Wednesday.
Before her resignation, Viles had held the elective position of tax collector for 42 years. Last December, town administrative assistant Triss Smith found a discrepancy between the amount of money Viles had reported collecting in 2014 and the amount actually collected, according to court records. Smith resigned in May.
An audit by the group Purdy Powers & Co. confirmed that $76,686 was missing from the town’s accounts that year, and the information was reported to residents at Town Meeting in March.
Subsequent audits of town records have revealed excise tax shortfalls totaling $438,712 from January 2011 to September 2014.
Viles pleaded not guilty to the 13 charges during an initial court appearance last month, but according to court records, she is alleged to have told the town’s auditor, “I’m the tax collector. It’s my responsibility and I’ll pay it back.”
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