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A Federal Case for a Teenager: Family Sees Tie to Ex-President
By FOX BUTTERFIELD
Published: December 23, 2003
KENNEBUNK, Me., Dec. 18 — It was supposed to be simple, breaking into a small boatyard near here and stealing a marine radio to monitor police frequencies.
But when the two intruders, Patrick V., 14, and his accomplice, Christopher Conley, 19, spotted what they thought were video surveillance cameras, they panicked and set fire to the building, burning it down along with several boats and engines. Unknown to them, one of the boat engines belonged to former President George Bush, whose summer house is seven miles away.
Within days of the July 2002 fire, Secret Service and other federal agents were at Patrick's house here. His mother, Denise Collier, said they told her that the young men had "blown up the president's boat" in what might have been "a terrorist act." One federal firearms agent told her, Ms. Collier recalled, that the incident had raised "national security concerns."
Patrick then found himself in a highly unusual predicament. Instead of being tried in local juvenile court, he was turned over to the United States attorney's office in Portland, tried in Federal District Court and found guilty. He was given the maximum sentence allowed: 30 months incarceration, followed by 27 months of probation. He was then sent to a maximum security juvenile facility in Pennsylvania on the order of the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Patrick's family and lawyers say that the decision not to try the case in a local court, as the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act normally requires, must have had something to do with its connection to the former president. But they are the only ones directly involved in the case to make this point.
Paula Silsby, the United States attorney for Maine, strongly denies this. "Absolutely not," she said.
Jean Becker, who is chief of staff for Mr. Bush in his Houston office, said he had made no effort to influence the decision to try Patrick in federal court. Any suggestion that he did "is personally offensive to him," Ms. Becker said.
[Asked whether the Secret Service had any role in the case's being turned over to the United States attorney's office, Ann Roman, a spokeswoman, said on Monday, "We do not comment on protective intelligence issues within the Secret Service."]
Because Patrick is a juvenile, his court records are sealed. His parents spoke for this article on condition that his full name not be revealed.
Ms. Silsby said Patrick's case qualified for federal jurisdiction because "this was a crime of violence — arson is a crime of violence." It also qualified because the local prosecutor had decided to turn the case over to her, she said, and "there was substantial federal interest," both because the boatyard was engaged in interstate commerce and because of the seriousness of the crime.
But Prof. Barry Feld, an expert on juvenile law at the University of Minnesota Law School, said that arson by itself did not make a juvenile crime a federal crime, not even a major fire with millions of dollars in damage. "Kids burn down expensive houses all the time and they don't get charged in federal court," Professor Feld said.
Under a federal law dating to the 1970's, juveniles are to be tried in state juvenile court except in special circumstances, said Robert Schwartz, director of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, a nonprofit law firm that represents juveniles. The attorney general of the United States or the local United States attorney must certify to the court in writing that the case meets these requirements, Mr. Schwartz said.
The first requirement is that there must be "a substantial federal interest" in the case, Mr. Schwartz said. In addition, the federal government must also show that the state court refused to take jurisdiction, or that the state did not have available programs for the juvenile or that there was a particularly serious act of violence or the involvement of guns or drugs.
What is particularly puzzling to Patrick's mother, Ms. Collier, his stepfather, Robert Mongue, and his lawyer at the time, Thomas Marjerison, is that they met with Mr. Cantara, the local prosecutor, on Oct. 30, 2002, not long after the arson, and told him that Patrick was prepared to plead guilty in juvenile court.
A few days after the meeting, Mr. Cantara informed the family that he was turning Patrick's case over to the United States attorney.
Statistics suggest how rare Patrick's situation is. In fact, almost all of the 234 juveniles confined in the federal Bureau of Prisons are American Indians, who are considered subject to federal law when they live on a reservation, or young people who committed a crime while on federal land, like a national park or military base, said Dan Dunne, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons.
By comparison, about 1.5 million juveniles were prosecuted in state juvenile courts last year, Professor Feld said.
From the whole of Maine, and all the other New England states — Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut — only one other juvenile is now in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons, Mr. Dunne said.
There are so few juveniles in the custody of the bureau that it does not even have its own juvenile prison, Mr. Dunne said. Instead, it has contracts with states, like Pennsylvania, where Patrick is being kept at the Cresson Secure Treatment Center in the central part of the state.
Cresson is for the most serious juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania who have proved disruptive in other facilities. Patrick is now housed in a wing where the other inmates are all mentally ill or mentally retarded, his mother said.
Patrick had no previous arrests before the arson, and no record of violence, and was an honors student in high school, so one question his parents have is why is he confined in a maximum security facility with emotionally or mentally troubled youngsters.
They are also concerned about the education he is receiving, which mostly consists of Patrick's volunteering to tutor the other boys in reading or arithmetic, Ms. Collier said.
Federal law requires that juveniles convicted in federal court be provided with proper education, and that "whenever possible" they should be kept in a facility "located in or near" their home. Cresson is 570 miles from his home.
Mr. Dunne said that "for reasons of privacy," he could not answer any questions about Patrick's placement or treatment.
Patrick's stepfather, Mr. Mongue, who is now serving as his lawyer, has filed an appeal of his 30-month sentence, and the federal court of appeals in Boston has agreed to hear oral arguments on Jan. 8. Patrick was also ordered to pay restitution of $728,000 with $21,000 to go to the former president.
Mr. Cantara said he had turned the case over to the United States attorney's office because "frankly, the federal government has more resources than we do, and this was a thin case that was going to be very difficult."
Similarly, a transcript of the sentencing hearing on Aug. 4 this year shows that the assistant United States attorney who handled the case, George Dilworth, told the judge that his office "took the case at the request of the York County district attorney" because "at the time, the case was somewhat thin, and he thought that we would have more prosecutorial resources to put in it."
But the reports by the Maine state fire marshal's office show that investigators had solved the arson case by early September 2002. The reports show that officials knew the names of the two intruders, had recovered stolen property linking them to the boatyard fire and had testimony from friends about their involvement. In addition, on Oct. 1, 2002, Mr. Conley, the 19-year-old, confessed as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced to 57 months in prison.
"They already had all the evidence they needed," Mr. Mongue said. "This was not a thin case. I am unaware of any investigation after Mike Cantara gave Patrick to the feds."
"So the real question is why the feds were so hellbent on obtaining jurisdiction," he said. "It's difficult not to draw the conclusion that the reason was the Bush connection."
By FOX BUTTERFIELD
Published: December 23, 2003
KENNEBUNK, Me., Dec. 18 — It was supposed to be simple, breaking into a small boatyard near here and stealing a marine radio to monitor police frequencies.
But when the two intruders, Patrick V., 14, and his accomplice, Christopher Conley, 19, spotted what they thought were video surveillance cameras, they panicked and set fire to the building, burning it down along with several boats and engines. Unknown to them, one of the boat engines belonged to former President George Bush, whose summer house is seven miles away.
Within days of the July 2002 fire, Secret Service and other federal agents were at Patrick's house here. His mother, Denise Collier, said they told her that the young men had "blown up the president's boat" in what might have been "a terrorist act." One federal firearms agent told her, Ms. Collier recalled, that the incident had raised "national security concerns."
Patrick then found himself in a highly unusual predicament. Instead of being tried in local juvenile court, he was turned over to the United States attorney's office in Portland, tried in Federal District Court and found guilty. He was given the maximum sentence allowed: 30 months incarceration, followed by 27 months of probation. He was then sent to a maximum security juvenile facility in Pennsylvania on the order of the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Patrick's family and lawyers say that the decision not to try the case in a local court, as the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act normally requires, must have had something to do with its connection to the former president. But they are the only ones directly involved in the case to make this point.
Paula Silsby, the United States attorney for Maine, strongly denies this. "Absolutely not," she said.
Jean Becker, who is chief of staff for Mr. Bush in his Houston office, said he had made no effort to influence the decision to try Patrick in federal court. Any suggestion that he did "is personally offensive to him," Ms. Becker said.
[Asked whether the Secret Service had any role in the case's being turned over to the United States attorney's office, Ann Roman, a spokeswoman, said on Monday, "We do not comment on protective intelligence issues within the Secret Service."]
Because Patrick is a juvenile, his court records are sealed. His parents spoke for this article on condition that his full name not be revealed.
Ms. Silsby said Patrick's case qualified for federal jurisdiction because "this was a crime of violence — arson is a crime of violence." It also qualified because the local prosecutor had decided to turn the case over to her, she said, and "there was substantial federal interest," both because the boatyard was engaged in interstate commerce and because of the seriousness of the crime.
But Prof. Barry Feld, an expert on juvenile law at the University of Minnesota Law School, said that arson by itself did not make a juvenile crime a federal crime, not even a major fire with millions of dollars in damage. "Kids burn down expensive houses all the time and they don't get charged in federal court," Professor Feld said.
Under a federal law dating to the 1970's, juveniles are to be tried in state juvenile court except in special circumstances, said Robert Schwartz, director of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, a nonprofit law firm that represents juveniles. The attorney general of the United States or the local United States attorney must certify to the court in writing that the case meets these requirements, Mr. Schwartz said.
The first requirement is that there must be "a substantial federal interest" in the case, Mr. Schwartz said. In addition, the federal government must also show that the state court refused to take jurisdiction, or that the state did not have available programs for the juvenile or that there was a particularly serious act of violence or the involvement of guns or drugs.
What is particularly puzzling to Patrick's mother, Ms. Collier, his stepfather, Robert Mongue, and his lawyer at the time, Thomas Marjerison, is that they met with Mr. Cantara, the local prosecutor, on Oct. 30, 2002, not long after the arson, and told him that Patrick was prepared to plead guilty in juvenile court.
A few days after the meeting, Mr. Cantara informed the family that he was turning Patrick's case over to the United States attorney.
Statistics suggest how rare Patrick's situation is. In fact, almost all of the 234 juveniles confined in the federal Bureau of Prisons are American Indians, who are considered subject to federal law when they live on a reservation, or young people who committed a crime while on federal land, like a national park or military base, said Dan Dunne, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons.
By comparison, about 1.5 million juveniles were prosecuted in state juvenile courts last year, Professor Feld said.
From the whole of Maine, and all the other New England states — Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut — only one other juvenile is now in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons, Mr. Dunne said.
There are so few juveniles in the custody of the bureau that it does not even have its own juvenile prison, Mr. Dunne said. Instead, it has contracts with states, like Pennsylvania, where Patrick is being kept at the Cresson Secure Treatment Center in the central part of the state.
Cresson is for the most serious juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania who have proved disruptive in other facilities. Patrick is now housed in a wing where the other inmates are all mentally ill or mentally retarded, his mother said.
Patrick had no previous arrests before the arson, and no record of violence, and was an honors student in high school, so one question his parents have is why is he confined in a maximum security facility with emotionally or mentally troubled youngsters.
They are also concerned about the education he is receiving, which mostly consists of Patrick's volunteering to tutor the other boys in reading or arithmetic, Ms. Collier said.
Federal law requires that juveniles convicted in federal court be provided with proper education, and that "whenever possible" they should be kept in a facility "located in or near" their home. Cresson is 570 miles from his home.
Mr. Dunne said that "for reasons of privacy," he could not answer any questions about Patrick's placement or treatment.
Patrick's stepfather, Mr. Mongue, who is now serving as his lawyer, has filed an appeal of his 30-month sentence, and the federal court of appeals in Boston has agreed to hear oral arguments on Jan. 8. Patrick was also ordered to pay restitution of $728,000 with $21,000 to go to the former president.
Mr. Cantara said he had turned the case over to the United States attorney's office because "frankly, the federal government has more resources than we do, and this was a thin case that was going to be very difficult."
Similarly, a transcript of the sentencing hearing on Aug. 4 this year shows that the assistant United States attorney who handled the case, George Dilworth, told the judge that his office "took the case at the request of the York County district attorney" because "at the time, the case was somewhat thin, and he thought that we would have more prosecutorial resources to put in it."
But the reports by the Maine state fire marshal's office show that investigators had solved the arson case by early September 2002. The reports show that officials knew the names of the two intruders, had recovered stolen property linking them to the boatyard fire and had testimony from friends about their involvement. In addition, on Oct. 1, 2002, Mr. Conley, the 19-year-old, confessed as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced to 57 months in prison.
"They already had all the evidence they needed," Mr. Mongue said. "This was not a thin case. I am unaware of any investigation after Mike Cantara gave Patrick to the feds."
"So the real question is why the feds were so hellbent on obtaining jurisdiction," he said. "It's difficult not to draw the conclusion that the reason was the Bush connection."
They thought they saw cameras so they lit the place on fire?!
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