The Brunswick Town Council on Monday recognized Brunswick Police Det. William Moir, who was awarded the Maine State Police Colonel’s Award for his part in catching a scammer.
Along with Brunswick Police Chief Richard Rizzo, Moir received a standing ovation from everyone in the Council Chambers.
Moir has served on the Brunswick department for just under 14 years, 10 as detective.
On June 7, Moir, along with Sgt. Chris Rogers and Trooper Jared Stedman of the Maine State Police, received the award for an investigation that led to the arrest of Ervin Morrison, 23, of Chelsea.
Morrison is accused of having scammed more than 50 people from Maine to Florida to the tune of nearly $500,000. Statewide losses in Maine are estimated around $250,000.
Officers had been searching for Morrison since the summer of 2015 after receiving complaints about undelivered goods or services such as firewood, logging or home repairs advertised in Craigslist.
That fall, Morrison allegedly collected $86,000 in checks from a Brunswick businessman for wood pellets that were never delivered. That’s when Moir came onto the case and began working with state police.
Rizzo said Morrison pleaded guilty in federal court late last week and although he said there has yet to be sentencing, he believes some form of restitution will be involved in his case as well.
“He’s yet to be sentenced, but that’s federal court — that’s big time. He’ll be going to federal prison,” Rizzo said.
Moir said the $86,000 was the largest onetime loss in the scam.
Moir said Morrison is still being investigated by other states but that he faced charges in Cumberland, Penobscot and Kennebec counties, as well as the federal wire fraud charges.
Moir said it felt good knowing Morrison would not get a chance to do this again to someone else.
“It was good to put a lot of pieces together — the puzzle, and then finally get some resolution with all these victims to try to give them all some sort of closure at least and hopefully some restitution,” Moir said.
The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less