AUGUSTA – The former executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority has been charged with felony theft and faces time in prison as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The state Attorney General’s Office said Thursday that Paul Violette was charged with unauthorized use of the turnpike authority’s gift cards and credit cards for personal travel, meals and other expenses exceeding $10,000 in value. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Violette was executive director of the MTA for 23 years, until his resignation in March amid allegations of lavish spending and misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He has since paid the authority $155,000 of his own money to settle a lawsuit.

Violette’s attorney, Peter DeTroy, said Thursday that Violette intends to plead guilty to theft and has agreed to an eight-year sentence, with at least three of the years suspended.

The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on the plea agreement or what sentence will be recommended as part of the settlement.

The office has requested a plea agreement hearing in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court, and asked that a sentencing hearing be scheduled for 45 to 60 days after the plea. No hearings have been scheduled yet, said Brenda Kielty, spokeswoman for Attorney General William Schneider.

The criminal charge shows that the system works, said Roger Katz, R-Augusta, Senate chair of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee.

The committee conducted a review of the MTA last year and questioned Violette in a hearing in April that packed the meeting room. Violette would not answer questions, citing his right against self-incrimination. The committee then voted unanimously to forward its investigation of alleged financial misconduct to the Attorney General’s Office.

“Many people are jaded about state government,” Katz said Thursday, “but this shows that no matter who you are, even if you are the powerful head of the turnpike authority, you are subject to the same laws as the rest of us.”

Katz declined to say whether prison time is appropriate for Violette, or how much. He did say the punishment should send a message to others who might violate the public trust.

“I would say that one of the purposes of sentencing is deterrence,” he said.

MTA spokesman Dan Morin said the leaders of the agency have been monitoring the criminal case.

“We think this is just another step toward putting this chapter behind us,” Morin said. “As we have since Mr. Violette left, we’re focusing on improving our operational efficiency and fiscal integrity.”

The turnpike authority has received a total of $430,000 in restitution in the past several months. That includes the $155,000 from Violette. The rest was split by two bonding companies, Travelers Casualty and CNA Surety.

The money went back into general operating revenue for the authority, which generates $106 million in toll revenue each year.

The authority is a quasi-state agency that operates the 109-mile Maine Turnpike, which carries more than 60 million vehicles a year. Violette was being paid about $130,000 a year when he resigned.

The state Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability looked at the authority’s operations and finances, and raised questions in a report last year about Violette’s use of turnpike funds.

The report, released in January 2011, questioned the authority’s purchase of hundreds of gift cards for upscale restaurants and hotels. Violette said the authority gave the cards to civic and charitable groups for fundraisers, but he couldn’t document where they went. Evidence surfaced that he had used many of the cards for personal expenses.

The authority sued Violette in July, alleging that he misused nearly $500,000 in turnpike funds in the form of gift cards, credit card charges, and vacation and sick leave pay to which he wasn’t entitled.

From 2003 to 2010, the lawsuit said, Violette charged nearly $25,000 on the authority’s credit cards and redeemed more than $90,000 worth of gift cards for personal travel, hotel and meal expenses on trips in Maine, Florida, Bermuda, Canada, France, Puerto Rico, Spain and Italy.

Violette was overpaid by $161,000 for unused vacation time and sick leave when he left the authority, after claiming falsely that he hadn’t taken any vacation or sick days during his 23 years with the agency, the complaint said.

After Violette’s resignation, former state Sen. Peter Mills was hired to replace him. Mills enacted new policies ensuring fiscal responsibility that took corporate credit cards away from most employees, changed the bidding process for contracts and restricted employee travel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MaineToday Media State House Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 620-7016 or at:

jrichardson@mainetoday.com