Eliot Cutler listens to his lawyer speak during a plea change hearing in Hancock County Court in Ellsworth on Thursday, April 4, 2023. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler is no longer allowed to practice law in Maine after pleading guilty last year to having child pornography.

The Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar agreed to disbar Cutler, 77, after a hearing in February, but their decision was made official in an order Monday that was signed by designated Judge Michael Duddy.

Cutler was also disbarred from practicing in New York in September, according to a statement from the Maine board.

He was arrested at his Brooklin home in March 2022, when investigators found thousands of child pornography images on his computers. They said that from 2014 to 2021, Cutler downloaded more than 80,000 images of children younger than 12 engaged in often violent and unusual sexual acts.

Cutler pleaded guilty in May 2023 to four class C felony charges of possession of sexually explicit material of a minor. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail at the time, but was released early in January with credit for good time. He is now on probation and has joined Maine’s sex offender registry as a lifetime registrant.

In February, Cutler requested a hearing with the Maine board regarding his petition for disbarment, which was filed in Maine on Oct. 2, in light of New York’s decision. The Maine board had also began the discipline process with his plea in May 2023, charging Cutler “with violations of Maine Rules of Professional Conduct.”

The hearing focused on Cutler’s voluntary plea to his crimes, according to Monday’s order, and his voluntary agreement to the Maine board’s discipline.