The man who police say set up the robbery that led to the fatal shooting of Derald “Darry” Coffin on Woodford Street in Portland will serve eight years in state prison.

Anthony Osborne, 46, was sentenced Friday in Cumberland County Superior Court to serve 22 years, but a judge agreed to suspend 14 years of Osborne’s prison term. He will have to serve the full sentence if he violates the conditions of his four-year probation.

Coffin was 43 years old when he died. His death has devastated his family, his brother Terry Leonard told Superior Justice MaryGay Kennedy.

“Darry was the joker, he was our light, and we miss him greatly,” Leonard said before the judge announced the sentence Friday.

“Both kids could really use their dad right now,” said Leonard, standing beside his mother and Coffin’s two young children, who are 13 and 5 years old.

Osborne is one of four men who were charged for their alleged roles in Coffin’s death and the shooting of Annabelle Hartnett, who survived her injuries. Prosecutors said on Friday that Osborne was the “catalyst” in Coffin’s death.

The state agreed to drop his felony murder charge when he pleaded guilty to one count of robbery in January, days before he was set to go to trial.

Days after Coffin died, his family told the Press Herald that he had been making plans to move back to the Midcoast area, where he had always found a safe harbor and support from those who loved him.

Coffin struggled with substance use disorder, but he was never defined by it, his family said. Several relatives who spoke with the Press Herald in 2022 said Coffin was a hard worker and outdoorsman. He worked in construction, with cars, and enjoyed hunting and riding four-wheelers.

‘WITHOUT YOUR ACTIONS’

Osborne spent several hours with the victims on April 25, 2022, promising them drugs later in the evening. Then, after midnight, he told three other men where to find him on Woodford Street.

One of the men was Damion Butterfield, 24, a friend of Osborne’s 25-year-old son, Lorenze Labonte (who was also in court Friday in an unrelated homicide case.)

Butterfield pleaded guilty to shooting Coffin and Hartnett in December but is now trying to withdraw that plea and ask for a new trial.

Prosecutors have argued this was a planned robbery. Osborne’s attorney, Verne Paradie, said that if this had gone to trial, the defense would’ve argued that Osborne “did not plan the robbery” and “had no idea these people were going to do that.”

“Mr. Osborne has sincere remorse,” Paradie said. “He’s been very sincere with me about that since Day 1, and is very remorseful that Darry got killed.”

Kennedy described what she called Osborne’s complacency on the morning of April 26, 2022, when he sat behind Coffin in Hartnett’s parked car while the three other men pulled Coffin onto the street, demanding money and drugs. She said Osborne did nothing to stop them as one of the men shot Coffin and Hartnett.

“As the other men fled the scene, Mr. Osborne finally did something,” Kennedy said. “As Darry Coffin laid on the ground, moaning in pain and fear that he was going to die, Mr. Osborne searched Darry’s pockets for money and drugs.”

Kennedy read a quote from one of the defense’s court filings, which said “it is difficult to imagine a more serious way to end a robbery.”

In the courtroom Friday, Leonard asked how Osborne could have set up someone whom he considered a close friend. He said Osborne’s sentence will never compare to what Coffin’s family has struggled with – sleepless nights, dreams of his brother and navigating four different criminal cases, including Butterfield’s two-week trial last year.

“Without your actions that night, none of this would have even happened,” Leonard said. “I would still have my brother, my mother would still have her son, and his children would still have their father.”

Crying into the sleeve of her sweater, Coffin’s daughter Darielle briefly stepped up to the courtroom microphone to address Osborne.

“Why?” she asked before the family walked back to their seats.

Osborne told the court that he has always struggled with his own substance use disorder. In Coffin, he found someone who shared similar experiences, with whom he “spoke that same language.”

He said what happened that night was a senseless act of violence that “will echo in the hearts of his loved ones for eternity.”

“It just shouldn’t have happened,” Osborne said. “I’m sorry.”

Osborne is not allowed to contact Coffin’s family while on probation. Hartnett, who was nearly shot in the head and now lives out of state, was not in court Friday. Prosecutors said she did not ask for a no-contact order.

FORMER CO-DEFENDANTS

Paradie said his client pleaded guilty to spare the family from trial and that he believes he can pay his roughly $1,000 in restitution soon. A representative from the Belfast group, Helping Incarcerated Individuals Transition, told Kennedy that they’re working with Osborne to ensure he has work and housing after incarceration.

Osborne has been incarcerated for much of his life, Paradie said, including for a previous manslaughter conviction.

He is the first of the four former co-defendants to be sentenced in the shooting.

Thomas MacDonald, who was originally charged with felony murder and robbery, pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension in April 2023 and has yet to be sentenced. He has agreed to testify against the other men and the state’s case has relied largely on his confessions to police.

Butterfield’s motions to withdraw his guilty plea to murder, attempted murder and robbery are still pending. Butterfield was in court for nearly two weeks of trial before entering his plea after jurors reached a verdict.

Jonathan Geisinger, 46, also was charged with felony murder and robbery. No date was scheduled for his trial Friday morning.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Lewiston, Lisbon police face tough questions about mass shooting response

Next »

Police search for at least 4 suspects who fled after Saco shooting and crash