List includes Rep. Jeffrey Pierce, candidate for House GOP Leader
Westbrook, MAINE - The Maine Democratic Party has obtained public documents revealing that multiple Republican House candidates running for election this November have serious—and in some cases violent—criminal records. The multiple convictions range from assault to drug trafficking and include one current member running to be the Republican Party’s leader in the Maine House of Representatives.
Rep. Jeffrey Pierce
According to public documents, State Rep. Jeffrey Pierce of Dresden has been convicted of Class B felony drug trafficking, as well as convicted of a number of other crimes spanning a 25-year period from 1981 to 2006. Pierce was arrested for drug possession twice, Operating Under the Influence (OUI) twice, assault twice, criminal threatening, leaving the scene of an accident, and two counts of drug trafficking. He’s pleaded guilty or been found guilty by a jury to drug possession, two OUIs, and two counts of drug trafficking (one a felony, one a misdemeanor). In the case of the two different assault arrests (one in 1982 and one in 2004), Pierce agreed to have the 1982 assault charges filed, pending good behavior, and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct following the 2004 arrest.
Pierce is banned for life from owning or possessing firearms due to his felony drug trafficking conviction.
This past legislative session, despite the news that 418 Mainers lost their lives to opioid addiction in 2017, Rep. Pierce voted against LD 1711, a bill designed to help Maine's most vulnerable who have been affected by the opioid epidemic. The bill had overwhelming support from the law enforcement, medical and treatment communities and received bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.
“It is unconscionable that someone convicted of a drug trafficking felony, who is now serving in the Maine House of Representatives, voted against a bipartisan bill to provide drug treatment,” said Phil Bartlett, the chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “You can’t make this up.”
In a recent September 17, 2018 candidate profile published by the Lincoln County News, Pierce stated, “We failed as a Legislature to act on making penalties stiff for people who are drug dealers.” But public records show that Pierce’s attorney petitioned the court for leniency following his felony drug trafficking conviction in 1983, asking for a reduction in his fine and probation following his incarceration.
Pierce is running for his third term in the Maine House of Representatives and is running to be the Republican Party’s leader in the House. He is the principal officer of the Common Sense for ME leadership PAC which has raised close to $40,000. He has contributed to several 2018 Republican House candidates, including John Andrews, Josanne Dolloff, Gregory Foster, Guy Lebida, Tony Lorraine, and William “Billy Bob” Faulkingham.
William “Billy Bob” Faulkingham
William “Billy Bob” Faulkingham, of Winter Harbor, is the Republican candidate in House District 136 which includes Gouldsboro, Hancock and multiple other towns in Hancock and Washington counties. Faulkingham was charged with one count of assault in 2000 and pleaded guilty. In 2003, he was charged with two counts of assault, one count of criminal mischief and one count of disorderly conduct. Faulkingham pleaded guilty to the criminal mischief and disorderly conduct charges, which court documents allege he “repeatedly holler[ed] f*** you, gave an obscene gesture, to wit, the finger, and threw a bucket of human excrement at or on...” the victims.
“People make mistakes and deserve second chances, but such outrageous conduct should give voters cause for concern,” said Bartlett. “His actions were just plain wrong.”
Bevelyn Beatty
As reported by the Free Press in March, Republican House candidate Bevelyn Beatty, who is running for House District 97 in Belfast, Northport and Waldo is facing assault charges stemming from a nightclub incident in Bangor in 2017 where she allegedly hit another woman several times.
Christopher Hoy
Christopher Hoy, who is the Republican candidate in House District 32, which is part of South Portland, has an extensive violent criminal record. According to public records, Hoy was charged with domestic violence assault against the mother of his son in January of 2015 and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct relating to the incident. Two years later, in January of 2017, Hoy was charged and pleaded guilty to violating a protective order against the same woman. Several days later, in January of 2017, Hoy was arrested for domestic violence assault against his mother and pleaded guilty in April of 2017 to a reckless conduct charge related to the arrest. Additionally, Hoy has been arrested on numerous other charges in the past three years including in April of 2018, while a candidate for State Representative, for violating a protective order.
After learning about Christopher Hoy’s criminal record last month, House Republican leader Ken Fredette and the Maine GOP called for Hoy to drop out of the race. "House Republicans have no tolerance for this type of behavior and we are calling on Christopher Hoy to drop out of the race immediately,” Fredette told WGME in September.
“We applaud Rep. Fredette and the Maine Republican Party for asking Christopher Hoy to drop out of the race once they learned of his record, and now we ask them to apply that same standard to Jeff Pierce and Billy Bob Faulkingham, both of whom have been convicted of serious charges,” said Bartlett. “Drug traffickers and violent criminals should not be serving Mainers in the House of Representatives. I think we can all agree on that.”
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