BANGOR – After nearly nine hours of deliberation, a Penobscot County jury found a former Millinocket town manager guilty of stealing from the town, but instead of the $16,000 he was accused of taking the jury settled on a much lower figure.

James Kotredes, 45, of Bangor was convicted at 3 a.m. Friday of stealing between $1,000 and $2,000 from the town of Millinocket while he was the manager there between 1995 and 1997.

That amount reduced the charge to a Class D misdemeanor instead of the Class B felony the state had charged him with. Instead of up to 10 years in prison, Kotredes now faces only up to one year in jail and will not have a felony conviction on his record.

Kotredes’ attorney, Arthur J. Greif of Bangor, said he did not agree with the verdict and that an appeal of the conviction was very likely.

“There are several appellate issues here,” Greif said as Kotredes stood by his side in the early morning hours Friday outside the Penobscot County courthouse.

As jurors filed out of the courtroom they chose not to speak to the media, so it was difficult for anyone, including Greif and District Attorney R. Christopher Almy, to speculate on why or how the jury came up with the $1,000 to $2,000 figure.

After about four days of testimony, jurors were faced with several hours of testimony from town officials, town employees and Kotredes himself. They also were handed mounds of paperwork – credit-card statements, bank statements, town warrants and other town financial records – to sift through during deliberations.

The state had accused Kotredes of misusing the town credit card by purchasing gasoline for his own use, eating at restaurants on weekends, buying clothing and staying at hotels for recreation. He also was accused of taking about $5,000 in cash advances on the credit card during that two-year period. The state estimated he had taken about $16,000 in unauthorized charges on the town card for his personal use.

Kotredes said he took the cash advances, bought the gasoline and made other purchases, and wrote them off against a running expense ledger he kept. The ledger was never found. Kotredes never submitted a mileage reimbursement voucher to the town despite thousands of miles of travel on town business. Instead he kept track of what the town owed him and used the credit card for cash advances to pay himself back for the money the town owed him, he testified.

It was unclear what the jury accepted to be legitimate business expenses and what they decided Kotredes did illegally.

At one point during deliberations, the jury returned to the courtroom and requested that the court reporter read back testimony of two former Millinocket town councilors who testified about what would be legitimate use of the credit card by Kotredes and what would not be legitimate use.

Though everyone clearly was tired when the verdict was read, Almy said he respected the jury’s decision.

“It was a very difficult and complicated case and there was a lot of information and I respect their decision. This was an important case. It was a breach of trust and it was important that the people of Millinocket have their day in court. … What Mr. Kotredes did was reprehensible,” said Almy.

Almy said he was not ready to discuss what he would recommend as a sentence for Kotredes. Sentencing has been continued to an as yet unscheduled date. Kotredes remains free on bail.

In 1998 Kotredes served 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to 11 counts of theft for stealing $11,000 from a Millinocket youth hockey fund. At the time of that charge he had left Millinocket’s employ and was city manager in Brewer. He resigned that position and now works as a telephone operator.

Greif said he likely would appeal the conviction and ask that any sentence rendered be suspended until the appeal was decided.

Though Kotredes was charged with Class B theft, the jury could automatically find him guilty of a Class C, D or E offense if it found the amount he stole was less than the state alleged.

“I think in [Almy’s] heart he knew he did not have a felony case here,” Greif said.

Also early Friday morning, Greif alleged it cost the state about $100,000 to try the case and said the town of Millinocket had paid Millinocket attorney Dean Beaupain $19,000 and Millinocket accountant Robert Adams $14,000 to audit the town’s books.

“It cost the state of Maine $1,251 for my court-appointed representation of Mr. Kotredes,” Greif said. “I would say that Mr. Kotredes got his money worth.”