Eliot Cutler, a wealthy attorney who ran for Maine governor twice, is expected to plead guilty to possessing “thousands” of videos and images of child sexual abuse and serve nine months at the Hancock County Jail, according to court documents.
A left-leaning independent who almost became governor of Maine in 2010, Cutler is scheduled to appear in an Ellsworth courtroom at 1:30 on Thursday to enter a guilty plea on four counts of possession of sexually explicit material of a child under 12.
The agreement between Cutler and prosecutors calls for a four-year term with all but nine months suspended. The judge has yet to give final approval to the deal. If he does, Cutler heads to the jail on June 1.
After his release, Cutler, 76, will be on probation for six years, subject to Internet activity monitoring, and required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Cutler’s attorney, Walter McKee, said in a sentencing memorandum that Cutler acknowledged his addiction to pornography, which led him to downloaded hundreds of images and videos at a time.
Cutler was arrested last year at his waterfront home in Brooklin. When police arrived to search his home, Cutler reportedly confessed to his wife on the spot.
Cutler used his personal wealth to fund two gubernatorial campaigns in Maine as an independent. He lost by less than 2 percentage points to former Republican Gov. Paul LePage in 2010 and lost again by a wider margin in 2014.
Cutler presented himself in the tradition of independent candidates like Gov. Jim Longley and Sen. Angus King, and his campaigns divided the Democratic Party, which many political observers believe contributed to LePage’s electoral victories.
Cutler’s role as a “spoiler” in those elections boosted support in Maine for ranked-choice voting, even though Maine’s State Constitution prevents that election method from being use in gubernatorial elections.
Cutler served as an aide to the late Democratic Sen. Edmund Muskie and later worked as former Democratic President Jimmy Carter’s top adviser for environmental and energy issues. He went on to become an environmental lawyer and helped establish a law firm in Washington before returning to Maine to run for governor.
His wealth and ability to hire legal counsel may have contributed to his relatively lenient sentence.
In January, a Hampden man who faced similar charges was sentenced to 84 months in prison.
In April, a Monmouth man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for similar charges.
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