FARMINGTON — A Franklin County justice ordered a Florida man to serve 90 days in jail Friday for violating the Maine Uniform Securities Act.

Guy Appleby Griscom, 61, of West Palm Beach, formerly of Phillips, Maine, pleaded guilty last year to selling $45,000 in stock for a computer recycling business that did not exist to Nicholas Whittemore of Farmington.

Griscom paid restitution of $34,000 cash and a tractor before the sentencing. When Justice Michaela Murphy asked where the cash came from, Griscom said it was an inheritance.

A plea agreement capped the sentence at 90 days, factored in Griscom’s mental health evaluation and dismissed a felony charge of theft by deception.

Assistant Attorney General Michael Colleran said Griscom took $45,000 in four separate transactions over eight months for a business that did not exist.

According to an affidavit filed by Franklin County Sheriff Detective Thomas White on March 23, 2010, Whittemore began to convey funds to Griscom beginning in November 2006 to start up a business named “eCycleRecycle” in Franklin County, Maine.

Whittemore was given the option to buy up to 450 shares, at $100 per share in eCycleRecycle until May 20, 2008, White wrote.

From Nov. 20, 2006, to June 18, 2007, Whittemore transferred $122,600 to Griscom’s TD Bank North checking account. Of that amount, $45,000 was for 450 shares in the recycling business.

During an investigation White wrote that he established there was not a company registered in either Maine or Delaware. The latter was listed on the stock options.

Griscom was arrested in April 7, 2010, at his home in Florida.

Reading a statement to the court, Whittemore said he still has more than $100,000 owed in promissory notes, he said.

The money he lost, he said, represented some retirement savings and what he had planned to use fixing his New Sharon home that burned in 2005.

“I’m still living in a garage seven years later,” Whittemore said. “I feel this is a violation of trust.”

He said he did not see any hardship or pain and suffering on Griscom’s part, so far, and would have liked to have seen a six-month jail sentence. However, he previously accepted the proposed agreement.

Griscom’s attorney, Christopher Berryment, said his client has convictions for operating after suspension and minor traffic infractions. He also paid a significant amount of restitution, he said.

Berryment gave the court a rundown of Griscom’s mental health, including bipolar disorder.

Griscom, the father of four children, turned to Whittemore in court and said, “I did wrong and I am very sorry.”

He asked the court to allow him to rebuild his life.

“It is going to be hard. It is hard right now,” Griscom said. “You don’t know the hell of living with mental illness.”

Justice Murphy denied a stay of execution and told Griscom he would be credited for the 32 days he previously served.

dperry@sunjournal.com