PORTLAND — A former Scarborough man scheduled to go to trial Wednesday on charges that he helped con a New York church out of $400,000 has agreed to a plea deal that could spare him more jail time.
Darren McDunnah, 51, son of a longtime Boothbay Harbor police chief, allegedly promised the Addulum Gospel Church a $1.6 million return on a $400,000 investment in 2004 but actually planned to use the money himself. The church recovered its initial investment from a third party.
McDunnah, who has already spent 13 months behind bars awaiting trial, pled guilty as part of a plea agreement Monday.
Assistant Attorney General Michael Colleran said that in exchange for McDunnah pleading guilty to securities fraud, the state would drop a felony theft charge and postpone sentencing for a year. If McDunnah pays $16,000 restitution by next March, prosecutors will recommend he serve no additional jail time.
Judge Jeffrey Moskowitz accepted the plea.
McDunnah was indicted five years ago along with Falmouth lawyer Thomas Acker, but he was not arrested until last February in Arizona. Acker pled guilty in 2008 to the church fraud and other investment schemes that cost friends and clients $2 million. He was sentenced to almost three years in prison.
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