Former police chief pleads guilt to thefts for gambling

The former chief of the Pleasant Point Police Department pled guilty on Wednesday, April 6, in Washington County Superior Court to a felony charge of theft by unauthorized taking as well as a misdemeanor of misuse of entrusted funds, involving $33,244.50. Maine Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin said that Joseph Barnes, 42, used the tribal money to gamble at out‑of‑state casinos and lied to investigators. "He was a person with authority, and he diverted the tribe's money for personal purposes. That's the reason this case was so important."
The money was taken from the tribal accounts between April 2007 and May 2008, and Robbin reported Barnes refused to answer questions when the tribe's chief financial officer discovered that thousands of dollars were suddenly being deposited in the "soda account" at the police station. "The balance of cash for the vending machine went from $200 to thousands of dollars."
The subsequent investigation, which began with an internal investigation by the Pleasant Point Tribal Council, was continued by the U.S. Department of Interior and then the Inspector General before being turned over to Robbin's office.
Robbin said Barnes withdrew $2,400 from an ATM at a casino, shortly after a $10,000 check was diverted from a tribal charity into the soda account. The check was intended to purchase three permits for moose hunts, and some money was supposed to go in the Melvin Francis Memorial Fund.
"He also said the money was going to pay drug informants and for charity, but there was never any proof of that," reports Robbin. "The stories didn't bear out during our investigation."
Robbin says Barnes' mental state is "fragile," and his attorney Jeffrey Davidson said Barnes was meeting with healthcare providers. "This is a significant blow to him," she pointed out. "He was sobbing and quite distressed."
June 9 has been set as the sentencing date by Justice E. Allen Hunter, and Robbin says the state will be recommending a "cap plea agreement' for Barnes, who has never been in jail. "We'll ask for four years in jail with all but one suspended," along with restitution.
Barnes had submitted his resignation as police chief in December 2008, effective in January 2009, citing personal reasons. He had served as chief for 17 years and began working for the Pleasant Point Police Department in 1987. During that time he received a number of awards, including the Chief of Police of the Year for Indian Country from the National Native American Law Enforcement Association in 2006. He was the first Native American in Maine to be certified as a police chief by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.