Drunken Lobster Boat Thief Gets Two Years

A 20-year-old Maine man has been sentenced to two years in prison after he was convicted of stealing a lobster boat and, under the influence of alcohol, abandoning the ship in a harbor, damaging four other boats in the process.

Kenneth Chandler, who lives on Beals Island, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated criminal mischief in February after driving an ATV to the Beals Island harbor and stealing the lobster boat in May 2008, at the age of 18. The Bangor Daily News reported that Chandler was released on $1,000 bail while he awaited sentencing.

During sentencing proceedings, Justice E. Allen Hunter chastised Chandler for his involvement in four new alcohol-related charges incurred during the summer while the man was out on bail.

"The defendant is slow to develop the insight that his evident problem is alcohol," said Hunter. The judge told the news source it was "mind-boggling that he would use alcohol again."

According to Chandler's attorney, Jeffrey Davidson, the Maine man already had a juvenile alcohol conviction at the time of the lobster boat theft.

In addition to jail time, Chandler was ordered to pay $69,777.99 in restitution for the damage to the fishing vessels.