Breaking: Sumner “Power Couple” to Plead Guilty to Theft Charges
The victim: the Volunteer Fire Department, the firefighters and the western Maine community
Former Sumner Select Board member Kelly Stewart, currently the “Forensic Outpatient Services Director” at Maine’s Riverview Psychiatric Hospital, has changed her mind about going to trial to fight charges that she and her husband stole gear and money from the western Maine town’s Volunteer Fire Department. Yesterday afternoon, in Oxford County Courtroom #1, her lawyer told Judge Maria Woodman that Stewart agreed to enter a yet-undisclosed plea deal in early September.
That’s a different song from Stewart’s last court appearance, in May, when her lawyer told the court they anticipated a 4 to 5 day trial to prove her innocence. And that’s a much different tune than the conspiracy she’d been spreading in Sumner since her arrest in August 2023, then grand jury indictment this February on felony “theft by deception” charges. Stewart, according to multiple sources, has been telling folks that she and her fire chief husband Bob had been framed by guys in the fire department and other town employees.
The town’s heavily-redacted official investigatory report (which triggered the criminal investigation) tells a different story. The alleged crimes came to light after volunteer firefighters noticed severe deficiencies in Sumner’s fire department equipment, safety gear and vehicles that put firefighters, the general public and property at risk.
The investigation (costing local taxpayers at least $60k) discovered even more shenanigans. According to the redacted report (18 pages with a 178 page appendix) the outdated equipment was ignored because, Bob Stewart reportedly told other firefighters, there wasn’t enough money in the budget. Meanwhile, as the un-redacted portions of the town investigation and appendix shows (via receipts, photos and screen shots), the Stewarts used town money to buy all sorts of gear and apparel, including pepper spray and expandable batons, that never made it into firefighters’ lockers. Instead, the report alleges, the Stewarts kept some stuff (apparently for personal use) while reselling other merchandise (such as heavy duty gloves) at their Sumner gun shop and firing range known as “Foothills Firearms.”
Bob Stewart’s lawyer had agreed earlier yesterday, during the morning “docket call,” to enter a plea agreement for his client on Sept. 4, so Kelly Stewart’s lawyer agreed to the same day and time.
Any actual plea deals remain unseen, for now, publicly. Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne declined to comment on the case. As did Stewart’s lawyer. However, when news broke of the arrest last year, officials said the amount of theft was “up to $15,000” from the fire department.
Both Stewarts are currently charged with Class C felony “theft by deception” charges that come with up to 5 years behind bars and a $5,000 fine as punishment. Highly unlikely that they would get any jail, since this is the first time they’d been busted for stealing from the volunteer fire department. However, a felony conviction would mean they’d have to shut down their combo-gun shop and shooting range they operate out of their home. And a guilty plea might be enough to convince town officials in Sumner to pursue a civil lawsuit against the couple to make up for the investigative costs and loss taxpayer monies.
Regardless of what Kelly Stewart pleads guilty to, it’s pretty clear she shouldn’t be working for the state mental hospital with the criminally mentally ill and getting paid, according to state employee salary database, $93,100, plus generous benefits. Gov. Janet Mills, btw, pulls in about $70,000.
I find it weird that she still has the job a year after her arrest. A high-level manager in state government charged with a Class C felony should probably be, at minimum, be placed on leave until their case plays. Especially since she has a supervisory position in connection to criminals and the mentally ill.
Also, as an observer of her behavior at meetings, court appearances and the socials, gotta say it’s nuts that she was ever hired by the state in the first place.
A brief aside: I live in a town next to Sumner (not far from their house, as the crow flies) and have heard from lots and lots of folks about goings-on involving the Stewarts. A lot of stuff I heard and learned, unfortunately, I won’t being reporting on because it’s not pertinent. Or the tales are too personal and hurtful for the other folks involved. However, I can say that most of the tales would make you cry… or laugh, often because of the ridiculousness of Kelly Stewart’s antics, public or otherwise.
However, she’s made public, via her Tik-Tok and other social media, her apparent gun fetish and gross sexualization of weapons. Which, of course, is her right, I guess, thanks to the First and Second Amendments. But it’s pretty strange that as the “Forensic Outpatient Services Director” at Riverview Psychiatric Hospital, she demonstrates an unsafe and cavalier manner with handguns. Like in this video below, where Kelly Stewart proclaims “to some girls, size matters” while she strokes the barrel of what appears to be a .357 magnum in a suggestive manner.
First of all: Yikes. Secondly: CRINGE.
I dare you to watch this vid.
Anyways, that was the happy and wacky version of Kelly Stewart. She was a much different and somber version yesterday in court. So was Bob Stewart. And neither wanted to answer my question: “Why are you pleading guilty?” In fact, she yelled for courthouse security to get me to stop bothering them. Which I did.
I ended up having a great conversation with the court officer. Nice dude who sees a lot of whacky stuff. And I gotta say, there’s a ton of stuff happening in our courthouses EVERY SINGLE DAY. I was astounded by the amount of drama, trauma and no-goodniks I learned about during two relatively short “docket calls” in one tiny county court in rural Maine.
Of special interest was the fella, a Sovereign, who angrily dismissed the judge’s and court’s authority to even ask him question, in connection to his arrest for his refusal to provide ID to a cop. His anger towards the government system resulted in him storming out of the courtroom. I caught up with him and had a brief conversation. I did learn that the proper term is “Sovereign,” btw, and not “Sovereign Citizen,” which they consider derogatory and misleading, because they don’t consider themselves citizens of any country. Which makes sense to me. So I apologize, sincerely, and will try not to use the Citizen-slur.
Most devastatingly heartbreaking, though, during the afternoon docket call there was a procedural matter involving a defendant in a rape case. To a civilian observer like me, unfamiliar with any details, it just seemed like just another cog-meeting in the wheel of justice.
Until a woman’s voice behind me, a couple rows back in the courtroom, called out, disrupting the discussion between defense counsel and the ADA. In anguish and controlled anger she called out the delay, yet another delay, in the case of the man who raped her daughter. She explained, plaintively but fiercely, that it was NOT okay to delay any farther.
I’d seen her, earlier, during a long delay, in the foyer, as we all awaited entry to the afternoon docket call. I had wondered why she was there. Out-of-place, with two tweenish boys, possibly her grandsons, the sons of the rape victim, she seemed sweet and an unlikely criminal. (Although you never can tell.)
I assume her behavior was “out of order,” but Judge Woodman didn’t seem to mind. The woman then stood and, from the back, succinctly explained to the court why the delay wasn’t cool.
And the judge heard her. And the judge told the Mom she heard her.
It’s not news that our courts are clogged and justice moves slow. And we know there’s a shortage of court-appointed lawyers. Which means there are low-income folks in jail, for months and months, awaiting trial because of the attorney issues. And we know that there’s lots of backlog and delay that can negatively impact those charged with crime.
That delay, though, also dramatically hurts crime victims and their families. Each postponement pushes back the chance and hope for closure. The pain and frustration felt by the mother standing up for her daughter was evident to all in the courtroom. And, sadly, it’s highly unlikely she’ll see justice anytime soon.
Btw, have you read
I’ve dropped the paywall on the story of State Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham and his apparent child labor law violations by hiring a 14-year-old neighbor to work as a sternman on his lobster boat. Chapter 2, a scientific debunking of Faulkingham’s claim of rogue wave and angelic intervention comes out Thursday. Paid subscribers get the Crash Report first. If you appreciate my writing and investigations that goes places where other media won’t, please continue becoming a paid subscriber for sixty bucks annually or $6 per month.