ELLSWORTH – Two brothers accused of helping to steal nearly $45,000 worth of lobster from seven dealers in two counties were sentenced Wednesday in Hancock County Superior Court.

Christopher Poore and William Tozier, in separate proceedings, each partially blamed the other for their troubles when they appeared before Justice William Brodrick.

Poore, 24, of Westbrook was sentenced to the Maine Department of Corrections for four years, with all but nine months and a day suspended, and ordered to pay $21,000 in restitution.

Tozier, 31, of Windham was sentenced to serve six years behind bars with no probation and was ordered to pay the full restitution of $44,912. He received a stiffer sentence in part because of his criminal history, which includes multiple burglary and theft convictions dating back to 1991.

“Mr. Tozier has one of the longest records I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been prosecuting for a long time,” Hancock County Deputy District Attorney Carletta Bassano told the judge.

A third defendant, Stephen A. Grant, 21, of Machias, pleaded guilty to his role in the thefts and was sentenced in June, according to Bassano. Grant received a sentence of four years with all but 15 months suspended and was ordered to pay $28,000 in restitution, she said.

How much each defendant pays of the total $44,912 restitution ordered by the court depends on how quickly and effectively each defendant pays off his share, according to Bassano.

Between the three of them, Grant, Poore and Tozier stole lobsters from seven businesses in Hancock and Washington counties during two weeks in late July 2003. Inland Seafood in Milbridge and Green Head Lobster Pound in Stonington each had $16,000 worth of lobster stolen during the burglary spree. The trio also stole lobsters from North Atlantic Lobster Sales in Addison, Stonington Lobster Co-op and dealers in Beals and Gouldsboro, officials have said.

Most of the lobsters are believed to have been sold in the Portland area, though some were eaten or given away, Bassano has said. The $16,000 worth of lobsters taken from Inland Seafood were sold to a North Windham dealer, who – not knowing they were stolen – wrote Poore a $4,588 check in exchange for the crustaceans.

Poore told Brodrick on Wednesday that he has turned his life around and has severed all his ties with his older brother. Poore said he violated his probation when he was charged with the thefts and, after being returned to Cumberland County Jail, received substance abuse treatment, completed an anger-management course, and earned his GED.

“I’ve put [Tozier] out of my life,” he said. “He’s sat in jail for most of his life and I don’t want to be like that.”

Poore asked Brodrick to let him serve his sentence at a state prison, rather than at Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth, so that he could be closer to his fiancee and her mother, who live in Westbrook, and so he could avoid serving jail time with people he is likely to know from his past. The judge granted Poore’s request.

Tozier told the judge he has substance abuse problems that have never been addressed, despite his many stays behind bars. He said he moved to Hancock County to try and turn his life around when Poore and Grant approached him with their plan to steal lobsters and resell them in southern Maine.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to get the help I need,” Tozier said, wearing jail-issued clothing as he stood next to his defense attorney, Frank Cassidy of Machias. “They just keep sticking me back in jail.”

Tozier will serve his sentence concurrently with the current three-year sentence he is completing, which is the result of his violating his probation last summer.

Neither Cassidy nor Bassano expressed any dissatisfaction with the sentences after the proceedings. Attempts to contact Poore’s attorney, Ferdinand Slater of Ellsworth, after Poore’s sentencing were unsuccessful.