Courts and Crime

A federal judge has dismissed an Illinois man's lawsuit targeting L.L. Bean's new return policy.

The judge ruled that Victor Bondi failed to establish that he'd suffered a loss or was dissatisfied with the boots he bought in 2017 before the Maine-based retailer announced the return policy change.

The company says items purchased before Feb. 9, 2018, are not subject to the revised policy so long as there's proof of purchase. Going forward, there's a one-year limit for returns of most purchases.

GORHAM, Maine - A retired state trooper who's charged with selling cocaine and fentanyl is due in court.
 
Jeffrey Linscott, of Buxton, reached a plea deal in which he could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison on Monday in Superior Court in Portland.
 
Linscott was arrested in December after selling drugs to an informant.
 
He's charged with aggravated trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in fentanyl and cocaine, and possession of fentanyl. Fentanyl is an extremely potent opioid that's responsible for hundreds of overdose deaths in Maine.
 

State police in Maine say a standoff with a man who barricaded himself in his home has come to an end after the man fired several shots at police.

Police say Michael Grendell was taken into custody on Friday following the Dixmont standoff. They say he was being treated for injuries suffered at the end of the standoff.

Police say Grendell fired the shots Friday morning, but missed and hit an armed vehicle and robot.

SKOWHEGAN, Maine - Court documents say the Maine man accused of fatally shooting a county sheriff's deputy was present for his girlfriend's arrest by the same deputy just days before the shooting.

John Williams, of Madison, was a passenger in his own car driven by his girlfriend when Cpl. Eugene Cole pulled them over on the afternoon of Saturday, April 21.

The Morning Sentinel reports Williams has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the April 25 death of Cole, and is currently undergoing mental health examinations.

Police in Maine say someone broke into a parked Maine State Police cruiser and stole two firearms, including an assault-style rifle.

Steve McCausland, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, says the thief stole a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and a state police-issued AR-15 rifle from a cruiser assigned to Trooper Jonathan Russell. The Portland Press Herald reports the theft occurred overnight June 16 while the vehicle was parked in the driveway of Russell's Norway home.

An affidavit says a Maine sheriff's deputy was on the ground when his attacker shot and killed him.

John Williams, of Madison, was charged in the April 25 death of Deputy Cpl. Eugene Cole. He has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Information from an affidavit filed in support of a search warrant Monday states that Williams described pulling away from Cole. Williams also pulled a pistol from his waistband. The affidavit also indicates that Cole retreated backward, tripped and fell to the ground.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says agents arrested a Guatemalan man Thursday who entered the U.S. border illegally near a Maine port of entry.

Spokesperson Dennis Harmon said U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a Guatemalan man near a Jackman port of entry and sent him back to Canada. The man had been living in Canada with a valid Canadian work visa. The man told agents he was trying to get to New York City to find a better paying job.

Border Patrol says that a citizen notified agents of a person walking south on Route 201 away from the international border.

An immigration checkpoint set up on I-95 in Penobscot County Wednesday resulted in the arrest of a man with an outstanding deportation order, 10 drug-related seizures and a formal warning to an immigrant who was not carrying his green card.

It has also raised questions about U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) practice of making random checks so far inland.

The Maine supreme court says employers don't have to pay for medical marijuana under the state workers' compensation system.

In a 5-2 decision, the court ruled Thursday that federal law takes precedence in a conflict between the federal Controlled Substances Act and the state medical marijuana law.

The case focused on whether a paper mill must pay for medical marijuana for a worker who was hurt on the job.