AUGUSTA — A former Oxford Hills School District board member plead no contest to a charge of theft by misapplication of more than $ 10,000 of property at the Kennebec County Superior Court on Feb. 21.

Toby S. Whitman, a former SAD 17 director and West Paris selectman, was ordered to pay $ 24,039 in restitution to a homeowner in Fayette. A Class B felony charge for theft by misapplication of property was dismissed, and Whitman plead no contest to a Class D misdemeanor.

The theft took place between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 15, 2017, in Fayette.

According to an affidavit filed at the time, Whitman committed theft by “failing to meet an obligation to make a specific payment or other disposition in the agreed amount.”

The indictment also alleges Whitman “intentionally or recklessly failed to make the required payment or disposition of the property or services and dealt with the property or services obtained or withheld as his own.”

According to the Forest Ranger Service,in 2016, Whitman entered into an agreement with Fayette landowners to harvest wood on their property. The landowners received only partial payment for the wood.

Since the value of the services was more than $10,000,  the criminal charge was punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.

Whitman was appointed to the board of the Maine School Administrative District in 2012, was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2017 for a two-year term, according to annual town reports.

On Dec. 3, 2018, SAD 17 declared Whitman’s seat vacant after Whitman missed six months worth of meetings.

Whitman was also a selectman in West Paris, resigning his seat in 2003 before his term had expired.

jbolduc@sunmediagroup.net