Former Gunpowder Plant Owner to Surrender $65K in Maine Case

December 16, 2016

A former gunpowder plant owner imprisoned over a deadly 2010 explosion in New Hampshire has agreed to surrender some money to the federal government in a separate wire fraud case in Maine.

Craig Sanborn, of Maidstone, Vermont, is serving a 10- to 20-year sentence for manslaughter and negligent homicide in connection with the explosion at his Black Mag gunpowder plant in Colebrook that killed two workers. In Maine, he was convicted in 2014 of stealing $300,000 in grant money relating to a munitions plant he ran in Brownville in the mid-2000s. He was sentenced to 28 months in that case, after he completes his New Hampshire sentence. He was also ordered to pay back over $307,000 in restitution and fines.

The Caledonian Record reports federal documents say the 67-year-old Sanborn agreed last week to surrender at least a portion of that money to the federal government. The amount, $65,000, is in mutual funds held in IRA accounts.

Federal prosecutors say Sanborn, between November 2005 and January 2008, submitted $300,000 worth of false invoices to Brownville officials for materials and services he never purchased in connection to the plant. The money came from a federal grant.

Prosecutors received authorization from a judge in May to start to recoup the lost money. They have filed additional paperwork to get more money from Sanborn’s bank and retirement accounts.

In the gunpowder plant case, the New Hampshire Supreme Court last year rejected Sanborn’s appeal that challenged the jury selection, evidence, verdict and sentence.

Topics Maine New Hampshire

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