MACHIAS – A Washington County Superior Court jury Wednesday found a 39-year-old former Washington County Sheriff’s deputy guilty of attempted criminal mischief.

But the jury also found the former law enforcement officer not guilty of criminal mischief, theft by unauthorized taking and a civil violation of unlawful removal of signs.

Judge Andrew Horton ordered Jeffrey Bishop of Cherryfield to pay a $100 fine. Bishop’s attorney, Donald Brown of Brewer, said his client did not plan to appeal his case. The trial began Tuesday.

Bishop had been charged after allegedly taking an opponent’s campaign sign and tossing it into the Narraguagus River.

The new charge of attempted criminal mischief was added Wednesday morning after some courtroom drama on Tuesday when Brown produced the campaign sign that he said his client had retrieved from the river and had held onto for more than 11 months.

Bishop admitted in court Tuesday that on June 22, 2006, he took a political sign that his opponent, Rodney Merritt of East Machias, had placed on private property on Route 182 and threw it off a bridge on Route 1 into the Narraguagus River. Ten days earlier, Bishop had lost a hotly contested three-way race in the June primary for the Republican nomination for sheriff. Merritt won the primary but lost in the general election in November.

During the otherwise unremarkable closing arguments Wednesday, the animosity that exists between Brown and District Attorney Michael Povich was evident. Each accused the other of behaving unethically during the two-day trial.

During his closing arguments, Povich told the jurors to focus on the fact that Bishop had admitted he had thrown the sign into the river. He also said that at no time did Bishop attempt to return the sign to Merritt. He said that the only thing Bishop was upset about was that a Maine state trooper had caught him throwing the sign into the river.

During his closing argument, Brown admitted his client had acted “stupidly” by throwing the sign in the river. But Brown focused on Merritt’s testimony. He claimed that Merritt had lied on the stand when he denied that he and Bishop had an agreement to pick up each other’s political signs after the election.

Brown said his client was fighting for his job and fighting for his reputation. Shortly after the incident, Bishop was suspended from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. But in October 2006, during an arbitration hearing before the Washington County Commission Bishop received five months back pay.

After several hours of deliberation Wednesday, the jury seemed to agree with Brown on three of the charges and with Povich on one – they found Bishop guilty of the lesser charge of attempted criminal mischief.

Outside the courthouse, Brown said his client was pleased with the jury’s verdict because it was important that Bishop retain his certification as a police officer. “This probably won’t have any detrimental effect on his certification at the academy, we’re certainly hopeful of that,” Brown said.

Asked how a law enforcement officer, who had been found guilty of a criminal act, could continue to be a police officer, Brown said, “There are quite a number of them in the state of Maine convicted of Class D crimes. This is a Class E crime. Jeff Bishop threw a sign off the bridge June 22, [2006]. We don’t believe, and the jury agreed, that he didn’t intend to do any damage. He didn’t intend to deprive [Merritt] of [his sign]. He did something stupid [and] the jury held him accountable. The judge fined him 100 bucks. The state spent tens of thousands of dollars trying him,” Brown said, apparently taking a shot at Povich for prosecuting the case.

Povich had to leave Machias before the jury rendered its verdict and was unavailable for comment immediately afterward.