Man gets 3 years in theft of guitars

ELLSWORTH – A 24-year-old man, formerly of Eastbrook, will serve three years in prison for stealing guitars from a local music store and trying to sell them in Boston.

George E. Taylor IV, who has been held at the Hancock County Jail since his arrest last December, appeared before Superior Court Justice Andrew J. Mead on Wednesday morning to plead guilty to charges of theft by unauthorized taking and receiving stolen property.

Ellsworth police charged Taylor with breaking into Mainely Music on High Street last November and taking four guitars worth more than $12,000.

Using their serial numbers, police Officer Kelvin Mote tracked the instruments to a Boston music shop, one of two places where Taylor tried to sell the items. Taylor was later identified by a store security videotape and by the identification he presented when he sold one of the four guitars.

When police searched his residence, they found an MP3 player and other equipment that had been taken from Radio Shack in Ellsworth, where his girlfriend worked at the time.

In court Wednesday, Taylor apologized for the trouble he has caused his family, his girlfriend and the community.

Mead ordered him to serve three years with the state Department of Corrections and to pay $6,262 for an instrument that was not recovered and $229 for the Radio Shack equipment.

During the proceedings, Deputy District Attorney Carletta Bassano said the sentence is appropriate given Taylor’s extensive record, which includes multiple convictions on burglary, theft, criminal mischief and probation violation charges in Maine and Florida.

In other court news:

Joseph A. Lane, 22, of Ellsworth, pleaded guilty to eight burglary charges and eight criminal mischief charges. He was ordered to serve 60 days of a two-year prison sentence. Upon his release, he will be placed on probation for two years and required to pay more than $7,600 restitution.

Lane was charged in connection with burglaries at eight camps around Branch Lake in April 2004.

Timothy Cates, 26, of Oakland, was ordered to serve 18 months of a 41/2-year prison sentence on a charge of aggravated trafficking in heroin. After his release, he will be placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay $110 restitution for the cost of drug testing.

Cates was arrested in April 2004 after police interrupted an alleged drug deal in an Aurora gravel pit. Officers later found 116 bags of heroin at his rented apartment.

Thomas A. Southmayd Jr., 24, of Wilmington, Mass., was sentenced to 18 months in prison with 60 days to serve on a charge of unlawful possession of heroin. He was given credit for time served, which fulfills his 60-day obligation, and was placed on probation for two years. He was also ordered to refrain from using or possessing intoxicants.