State agent’s cooperation captures a fugitive

BANGOR – Mark Silk, a detective with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Enforcement Division, said he was just doing his job.

His boss, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, said Tuesday that Silk, 46, of Orono did more than that when he helped federal marshals capture fugitive Tjentz (pronounced Chance) Edwards, formerly known as Kenneth A. Thompson, 33, of Albuquerque, N.M.

“Mark is a true team player, and he consistently goes above and beyond the call to make sure everything he can do to further an investigation is being done,” said Dunlap. “This time, a dangerous sex offender was apprehended thanks to Mark’s work and his willingness to immediately share pertinent information with another law enforcement agency – this time, the U.S. marshals.”

Silk helped find Edwards while investigating a suspicious transfer of title document, U.S. Marshal David Viles said Tuesday.

“This is how it’s supposed to work – law enforcement agencies, regardless of whether they’re local, state or federal entities, collaborating in such a way as to protect the public in ways no single agency could accomplish by itself,” said Viles, who heads the Marshal Service’s Maine district.

Dunlap held a press conference Tuesday morning in the lobby of the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor to honor Silk’s efforts and, with the help of local lawmakers, present him with a framed legislative sentiment congratulating him on his work in this case.

Edwards was sentenced as Thompson in June 2001 in federal court in Bangor to four years in federal prison and three years of supervised release after convictions for possession of child pornography and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He also was sentenced in September 2001 in Penobscot County Superior Court on six counts of gross sexual assault, two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and burglary to 15 years in prison with all but seven years suspended. The sentences were to be served concurrently.

Edwards, who changed his name from Thompson after his convictions, was released from prison in late 2006. A federal warrant was issued for his arrest for violating his supervised release in September 2007.

He now is serving two years on a state conviction of probation violation and one year and a day for violating his federal supervised release. After he completes those concurrent sentences, he will continue to be on state and federal probation.

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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