PORTLAND

Ex-pharmacist pleads guilty to kickback, tax charges

A former pharmacist for PIN Rx pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to kickback and tax charges.

Reginald S. Gracie Jr., 40, of Bowdoin was charged with corruptly soliciting and receiving kickbacks as an agent of an organization that receives federal funds.

PIN Rx was a mail-order pharmacy operated by the Penobscot Nation in 2005 and 2006. Gracie was accused of soliciting and receiving more than $120,000 from six companies that sold prescription drugs, including controlled substances, over the Internet.

In court, Gracie admitted to receiving $8,760 that was wired to his personal bank account in exchange for having PIN Rx fill 975 prescriptions.

Gracie also admitted to filing a false federal corporate tax return for Gracie Enterprises Inc. for 2007 that underreported gross receipts by about $32,000 and overstated corporate deductions. He also admitted to filing a false individual income tax return that did not report kickbacks he received.

Gracie faces as much as 10 years in prison on the kickback charge and as much as three years on the tax charges.

HERMON

State police identify parties in alleged home invasion

Maine State Police continue to investigate a shooting in which a Bangor man was fatally shot while he and another man were allegedly forcing their way into an apartment in Hermon.

Police said Robert Dellairo, 30, and Philip McIntyre, 19, drove themselves to a Bangor hospital after being shot Thursday morning by Daniel Williams, 24, who shares the apartment with another man.

Dellairo later died of a gunshot wound to the pelvis. McIntyre, who was charged with burglary, was treated and released from the hospital, and was bailed out of jail Friday.

Police believe Williams and his roommate didn’t know the intruders. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive.

Two women with Dellairo and McIntyre at the time of the incident have not been charged.

WATERVILLE

Man finds credit card, uses it to rack up $4,562 in charges

Police say a man who found a credit card on the floor of a Waterville convenience store went on a $4,500 spending spree before being caught at a motel with a woman and four hungry children.

Chad Gilley was charged with felony forgery, felony theft and criminal trespassing when caught Wednesday.

Police told the Morning Sentinel he found the credit card last Friday after the owner dropped it. He immediately used it to buy a 96-cent candy bar to see if it worked. When it did, he spent the weekend using it to buy food, clothing, lottery tickets and the motel room. The final tally: $4,562.

He was tracked down at the motel with four children who had not been fed. Some of the children were his.

GARDINER

Former city councilor fires rifle into ex-girlfriend’s truck

A former city councilor is facing charges after allegedly firing several shots from a high-powered rifle at his ex-girlfriend’s truck as she stood nearby.

Police said Allie Vigue, 58, was charged with aggravated reckless conduct and criminal mischief in Wednesday night’s shooting. He was held on $5,000 bail.

Chief James Toman told the Kennebec Journal there was nobody in the truck when Vigue shot it, but the woman was close enough to potentially be struck by a ricocheting bullet.

The woman’s name was not released because she is the possible victim of a domestic assault. Police said the two had split up.

Vigue served on the city council for several years in the 1990s.

ALFRED

Inmate charged in incident that left guard unconscious

An inmate at the York County Jail has been charged with assault on an officer following a skirmish earlier this week.

Jesse James Seward, 28, of Biddeford was charged in connection with the injury to Sgt. Jill Brooks.

Seward, a maximum-security unit inmate, was refusing to return to his cell Tuesday, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office. Brooks and another officer were summoned to return him to his cell and Brooks struck her head on the floor in the skirmish. She lost consciousness briefly and suffered a concussion.

Seward is scheduled to face the charge in York County Superior Court on March 22. He is being held on charges of possession of a weapon by a felon and violating conditions of release.

LIMERICK

Six young people face charges in home burglaries

Deputies have arrested five juveniles and one man in connection with the burglaries of two homes in December.

One burglary took place at a Johnson Road home when the elderly resident was away and another was at a Stone Hill Road home whose owner had died several weeks earlier, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.

The burglars stole several thousand dollars worth of property and caused damage to both homes, according to the office.

School Resource Deputy Jason Solomon identified the suspects and learned that they planned more burglaries in the area, according to the sheriff’s office. The investigation led to the recovery of several hundred dollars worth of stolen goods.

Solomon issued summonses for two boys from Limerick, two boys from Waterboro and one girl from Limington. Anthony Palmitessa, 18, of Limerick was also issued a summons and charged with burglary.

CAMDEN

Two women face charges of selling the drug Ecstasy

Two Maine women have been arrested on charges of selling the drug Ecstasy after police say they found thousands of dollars worth of the drug in their car.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said Dana Rader, 20, of Camden and Eleanor Brugger, 26, of Freedom are accused of selling the illegal drug in Knox County in recent months. Rader also faces charges of violating her bail conditions.

Drug agents and police arrested the two women after their car was stopped just after midnight in Camden on Thursday. Police said they found more than 100 grams of powder Ecstasy, worth about $7,500, in the vehicle.

MDEA Supervisor James Pease said law enforcement officials have been investigating the two women for suspected drug sales for several months.

BIDDEFORD

Fashion designer from Maine outfits Miss USA contestants

A Maine fashion designer is making a name for herself, outfitting seven of the Miss USA Pageant contestants in her evening gowns last month.

Ashley Lauren Kerr, 28, of Biddeford told Portland Magazine that her flair for design has grown out of her “passion for fabulous” that was instilled by her mother and her aunt.

And she defends Maine’s place in the fashion world. She says people who can wear old L.L. Bean boots and make them look stylish deserve some respect from the fashionistas.

All of her hard work is paying off. She recently signed with Los Angeles dressmaker SCALA USA and launched her own international design company.

— From staff and news services

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