Sheriff George Madden In Prison Commits forgery

[Shuftin]

2006-07-26

AUGUSTA, MAINE -- A former sheriff's captain imprisoned for theft is being accused of falsifying records to get fellow prisoners -- and himself -- early prison release.

George John Madden, 36, of Augusta faces a charge of violating probation by committing aggravated forgery while at the state's Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren.

The scheme was described in documents filed in Kennebec County Superior Court this week.

Department of Corrections investigator John Scheid said Madden helped inmates gain forms purportedly from county jails, district attorneys' offices and courts that awarded the prisoners "good time," essentially extra credit for time served or participation in work programs.

Scheid said two inmates -- Kenneth D. Pelletier and William Tozier -- admitted to having forged documents obtained by Madden.

One document bearing the signature of Kennebec County District Attorney Evert Fowle awards Madden 214 days of extra "good time" that could have been used to secure his early release, according to Scheid's report.

Fowle told Scheid that not only was his signature on Madden's document fraudulent, he had no involvement in Madden's case, which had been prosecuted by state Assistant Attorney General William Baghdoyan.

The state -- not Fowle -- prosecuted Madden because Madden had been an officer with the Kennebec Sheriff's Office, from May 2001 to May 2003.

He was sentenced Aug. 1, 2005, in Kennebec County Superior Court to three years in prison, with all but two years suspended, plus three years of probation, and ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution for the theft of guns, contractor's tools and a snowmobile while he was a sheriff's captain.

He sold some of the stolen goods -- including the snowmobile -- in pieces through eBay.

Madden remains behind bars.

His attorney, Walter McKee, said he had yet to see the state's motion to revoke Madden's probation on the new forgery charge.

"I have not yet had a chance to meet with George and go over the allegations, but I expect that he will enter a denial at the initial hearing," McKee said.

Although Madden is still serving time and has not yet begun his probation, McKee said a state statute allows the state to ask to revoke probation before it's started.

Pelletier told Scheid that a prisoner, Derrick Wilson, said his cellmate -- Madden -- had been a cop and had a scheme to increase "good time." Madden allegedly used a computer to forge documents while working in a prerelease program at the Rockland Public Works Department, according to Scheid's report.

Pelletier then approached Tozier in April, offering to increase his "good time" in exchange for $150.

Tozier gave Pelletier paperwork from Hancock County and received new papers in the mail that increased Tozier's "good time" from 219 to 416 days.

Pelletier, 42, was sentenced in York County Superior Court on Oct. 29, 2004, to 10 years in prison, with all but five years suspended and four years' probation for unlawful trafficking in drugs and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.

Tozier, 33, was sentenced in Hancock County Superior Court in July 2003 to six years in prison for theft, burglary, witness tampering and assault.

[DH]

George was jerk when he worked for pinellas park pd in florida! I wonder how he cleared so many burglary and theft cases when he was a detective......it usually took the other detectives 15-30 days to exhaust all reasonable efforts to solve them. He would make 2-3 phone calls and suspend the investigation. I hope he wasn't dirty when I worked for him.

[Shuftin]

DH said:

George was jerk when he worked for pinellas park pd in florida! I wonder how he cleared so many burglary and theft cases when he was a detective......it usually took the other detectives 15-30 days to exhaust all reasonable efforts to solve them. He would make 2-3 phone calls and suspend the investigation. I hope he wasn't dirty when I worked for him.

As a child my Grandfather would often tell me “A man who lies to you is the same man who will steal from you”. I was too young to know it then but I realize now that he was talking about a man’s character. Your character dictates your conscience and who you are, what you do, how you act and what you are capable of doing.

In this forum it has been pointed out and argued that some stories are about “Former” police officers and therefore are not legit police crimes. I say the character of a former police officer who commits a crime is the same character the police officer had when he wore a badge. Basically, he always had it in him and it was him.

“A man who lies to you is the same man who will steal from you”. What crimes or misconduct did these “Former” police officers commit, known or unknown, while wearing a badge and in what fashion did they perform their jobs?

The most important question of all is “How did they fit in so well with the other police officers”? Personally I believe that police officers are of like mind and therefore of like kind.

I liken the stories posted about “Former” police officers as KIND CRIMES because, at one time, they ran with the pack along with the current police officers and no one noticed a difference. The difference was not noticed because there was no difference.

Bottom line: The crimes of “Former” police officers are indeed police crimes or, like I said before, kind crimes.

A dog does what a dog does because he's a dog doing what a dog does. With or with-out a badge.

[guest]

so even though a "former" cop is convicted of a crime when he wasn't a cop, your saying that he learned it while he was a cop. as i read your posting i look to the left and i see "kids are not born criminal."

so now your saying that kids are born a criminal. just like you say, if you commit a crime after you were a cop, you were capable of commiting that same crime when you were not a cop.

that goes the same way for a child. if you commit a crime as a adult, you are capable of commiting a crime as a child.

[Photoman]

guest said:

so even though a "former" cop is convicted of a crime when he wasn't a cop, your saying that he learned it while he was a cop. as i read your posting i look to the left and i see "kids are not born criminal."

so now your saying that kids are born a criminal. just like you say, if you commit a crime after you were a cop, you were capable of commiting that same crime when you were not a cop.

that goes the same way for a child. if you commit a crime as a adult, you are capable of commiting a crime as a child.

Now are you a cop or a psychologists? If you are a psychologists then why in the world would you work for less than 10% of the pay as a POLICE OFFICER?
Same old know it all routine many of you jerks take - you think because you have a badge you have all the answers - it is sad to have to live that way knowing you have a life sentence dealing with criminals (or people you think are criminals). It all washes out in the end asshole - you will find yourself on the wrong side of the law or do something that would place you there even if your friends in the department keep quite about it to cover it up!
I am a journalist that deals with scum like you every day - NOT ALL COPS ARE BAD - but you have shown that you evidently have an Axe to grind and should be stripped of your badge!
BTW they have a spell checker on this forum and you are too dumb to use it - how do you even find your way out of the house and to your patrol car?
You spelled a simple word the same way both times - and what kind of education do you possess? Looks like a third grade mentality with your thoughts and grammar!

[D]

George, ex-cop or not did wrong and will due more time. The sad part is he was up for release soon. George is not a bad person just someone that made really bad choices. Spend some time behind bars and understand the horrors that happen and maybe one can understand why you would want to speed up your release......although understanding it does not make it right.