Ex-trooper gets jail time for tax evasion

PORTLAND – A former state trooper is going to jail for failing to pay state taxes.

Stephen Emerson will report to the York County Jail next month after being sentenced Monday to 45 days in jail under an agreement in which he pleaded guilty to six tax-related charges.

Emerson, 44, of Arundel, also was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution by Justice Paul Fritzsche at Cumberland County Superior Court.

Under the plea agreement, the state dropped an arson charge in which Emerson was accused of setting fire to his former business, the Hole in the Wall restaurant in Kennebunk.

Emerson’s restaurant burned on Nov. 1, 1999. His defense attorney contended the building’s electrical wiring was more than 50 years old and that the fire was an accident.

Emerson was tried for arson last October, but a mistrial was called when jurors failed to reach a verdict.