AUBURN — Former Sons of AMVETS Commander Peter Ross Bragdon was sentenced to serve three years in state prison Monday, with all but 18 months suspended, after pleading guilty to felony theft from the veterans’ organization and to misuse of entrusted property.

Bragdon, a former Androscoggin County emergency dispatcher, had been facing a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Bragdon, 33, of Gray, had been a commander at the Mechanic Falls Sons of AMVETS chapter in 2008 when he took a small amount of money. He considered it a loan and intended to pay it back, he told Justice MaryGay Kennedy in Androscoggin County Superior Court on Monday morning. That first-time theft became a pattern of taking money when his personal funds were tight, he said. “I needed money to put food on the table,” he said.

A 911 dispatcher at the time, he was separating from his wife. He needed the money to pay basic household bills — including the mortgage, phone and electric bills — and to buy food for himself and his two children, he said.

During a tearful explanation to the court, Bragdon apologized for his actions and said he took the money when he was at a low point in his life.

In handing down the sentence, Kennedy said that Bragdon seemed more embarrassed than remorseful, and that “lots of people have reached rock bottom and haven’t done what you have done, sir.”

Bragdon’s court-appointed attorney, Verne Paradie, argued that his client should spend only between 30 and 90 days in jail so that he could maintain primary custody of his school-age children and could begin receiving Social Security disability payments that were scheduled to start later this month.

However, in making the state’s case for more jail time, Assistant Attorney General Gregg Bernstein pointed out that Bragdon has pleaded guilty to two other financial crimes in Kennebec and Androscoggin counties that were committed during the time he was stealing money from the AMVETS account, demonstrating a pattern of theft and a willingness for Bragdon to violate bail conditions.

“This was a theft spree that only got stopped because he got caught,” Bernstein said. “There needs to be a message that you can’t do this.”

A significant prison sentence “is appropriate in this case,” Bernstein said, because “two previous cases were deferred (without sentence) and that did not deter” Bragdon from continuing multiple thefts.

Bragdon has pleaded guilty to charges of attempted theft, aggravated forgery and tax evasion in Kennebec County for crimes committed in 2010. According to Bernstein, Bragdon tried to steal $2,400 from Maine Revenue Services by overstating his payroll withholding when filing his federal and state income tax returns. When state officials questioned that the withholding on his return didn’t match the figure on his W-2 form, Bragdon forged a W-2 and sent the forgery to Maine Revenue Services with a note on Androscoggin County letterhead explaining the error.

Bradgon also pleaded guilty to negotiating a worthless check in Androscoggin County.

In the case that prompted Monday’s sentencing, Bragdon was arrested last year after several checks written by other AMVETS officers bounced, forcing officers to use personal funds to cover the checks and prompting a review of the account balance at the TD Bank branch in Mechanic Falls (the AMVETS hall is located in New Gloucester).

Bradgon had been an AMVETS commander in 2008 and had access to the nonprofit’s checking account. In 2009, he was asked to resign his position but retained control of checks and had the checking statement mailed to his home so others in the organization did not know money was missing. He continued stealing money from that account for another two years.

From October 2008 to April 2011, Bragdon made multiple cash withdrawals from the AMVETS account, in amounts ranging from $500 to $1,200, and paid back some of the stolen money over time. The total amount missing is $8,902, and part of Bragdon’s sentence includes full restitution of that money.

“Nonprofits rely on honest people to handle their affairs,” Bernstein said. Although Bragdon’s crime was mitigated by the fact that he willingly repaid some of the stolen money, the crime was aggravated by his position of trust within AMVETS, improperly using the organization’s “account as a revolving credit door.”

In making a case for less jail time, Paradie said Bragdon already had spent three days in Cumberland County Jail after his arrest last year, and that short stay was enough to deter him from further crime.

Paradie also mentioned that Bragdon has a strong record of community service, including volunteering at the Root Cellar in Lewiston, with the Girl Scouts at his daughter’s school, with the Department of Health and Human Services Safe Families program, and through a Christmas gift program at the East Auburn Baptist Church. He is also a Mason and Shriner, although has no fiduciary responsibilities with either organization.

In his statement to the court, Bragdon apologized to AMVETS members, saying “I never wanted to make the organization suffer in any way,” and finds his circumstances “humbling and embarrassing.”

In pleading for leniency, Bragdon asked the court “What will happen to (my children) if I have to go to jail?”

Suffering from a back injury since he was 14 years old, Bragdon told the court that he has had 10 surgeries to control pain and is facing yet another surgery in Boston. He doubted he would receive necessary medical care, including pain control, while in prison.

Kennedy acknowledged that she found the sentencing options difficult to decide, but told Bragdon she found his “emphasis on being embarrassed somewhat attenuating the full remorse you were attempting to express.”

In addition to serving 18 months in prison, Bragdon was sentenced to two years’ probation and must undergo counseling after his release.

He also was sentenced to serve six months on misdemeanor misuse of entrusted property, to be served concurrently with the theft sentence.

Bragdon was ordered to report to jail at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

jmeyer@sunjournal.com

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