Man sentenced on weapons charge

BANGOR -Thomas Hill of Brewer was sentenced to 18 months in prison Thursday after a federal weapons conviction. In an unusual move, Chief Judge D. Brock Hornby of the U.S. District Court of Maine ordered Hill to stay away from his fiancee, Julianne Foley, until he completes a program in battery and anger management to the satisfaction of his probation officer.

If Hill completes such a program in prison, he will be allowed to see Foley. If he doesn’t, the no-contact provision will stick even after his release from prison.

Hill, 40, was indicted in the summer of 1999 and later pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm after being convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. He was arrested July 27, 1999, at his apartment on Chapman Street after a brief standoff with police. Foley at that time complained Hill had sexually assaulted her, but she later recanted, and state charges of terrorizing and assault were dropped.

Foley wept in a federal courtroom in Bangor on Thursday as it became apparent Hill was facing prison time. She earlier testified she loved Hill “with all my heart,” and she tried to free her fiance of the weapons charge by saying a shotgun in his bedroom was used for skeet shooting only.

Hill’s attorney, Jamie Dixon of Bangor, argued that ordering Hill to stay away from Foley once he is out of prison would be tantamount to governmental and judicial interference with a marriage, given the couple’s plans to wed in the near future and their expressed desire to be together. Acknowledging the situation might raise a constitutional issue, Hornby apparently agreed with the government’s recommendation in the matter.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Love, who prosecuted the case, asked the judge to keep the couple separate until safety issues are resolved. Love described Hill as a man “with no regard for the physical sanctity of others he shares the planet with.” He said Hill, from the start, has tried to “wiggle around the legal system” in order to suffer the least possible impact on his life.

Love said that Hill’s trouble with the law began around 1989 and that the “violence in the defendant’s life is strong and continuing.” Love asked that Hill be sentenced at the heavy end of the guideline range.

Hill’s case has been on the docket for three years, wending its way through various hearings. It was one of several cases taken to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals on a technicality, then sent back to the U.S. District Court level.

On Thursday, Hill’s attorney argued that the shotgun in his client’s bedroom was used for sporting purposes only, and should qualify him for a shorter prison sentence.

Judge Hornby recessed the sentencing and conducted a side hearing on the topic. Brewer police Detective Fred Luce testified about the placement of the shotgun in the bedroom, among other issues. After the hearing, the judge said he did not believe the gun was used only for sporting purposes and did not grant the sporting-use exception.

Hill was handcuffed and remanded to jail. “I love you,” he said out loud in Foley’s direction. The young woman was allowed to hug Hill before marshals escorted him out of the courtroom.