Ex-Milo man who fled state gets prison

BANGOR – A former Milo man was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison after having been on the run from Maine for more than five years.

Linwood Lee “Skip” Clark, 43, most recently of Pennsylvania, also was sentenced to two years’ probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Clark faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The defendant turned himself in Nov. 10 after having been a fugitive from Arizona since 1992. Charges alleging that he violated probation for a drug conviction in that state are pending, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney James McCarthy, who prosecuted Clark on the gun charge.

Clark pleaded guilty to the federal firearm violation in January.

The charge stemmed from an incident on Dec. 29, 1999, when police in Piscataquis County answered a report of domestic violence at the Milo residence Clark shared with his girlfriend. She told police a gun was hidden in the barn or the house and that Clark was a convicted felon.

During the 1990s, Clark was convicted in Maine of theft, receiving stolen property and being a habitual offender. Those convictions prohibited him from possessing a firearm.

Clark was indicted in Maine by a federal grand jury in June 2000, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, but he fled before it could be served.

The case was part of Maine’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which coordinates the efforts of federal and state agencies in order to increase the successful prosecution of firearms cases, according to U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby. The program also educates potential offenders on the serious consequences of illegal gun use and possession.