The former operations manager for Gouldsboro’s ambulance service has been charged with felony theft in a case that already has resulted in a criminal conviction for the town’s ex-fire chief.
Kenneth McCartney, 58, is accused of stealing “property or services” valued at more than $10,000, according to documents filed in court. The one charge filed against McCartney — theft by misapplication of property — is categorized as a class B felony, with a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The town’s former fire chief, Tatum McClean, also was convicted last summer in relation to the same alleged scheme, in which he was accused of submitting fraudulent personnel stipend reimbursements to the town. McLean initially faced a lesser class C felony theft because the amount he was accused of fraudulently obtaining was worth less than $10,000, according to court documents.
In a plea deal with prosecutors, McLean pleaded no contest in August to misdemeanor charges and was ordered to pay $2,500 total in fines and restitution but did not have to serve time behind bars.
Robert Granger, district attorney for Hancock County, confirmed the theft charge filed against McCartney is connected to the McLean case, but he declined further comment.
On Monday, there was little detail in McCartney’s case file, but he previously had been identified by name in court documents filed by McLean’s then-attorney, Walter McKee, as being involved in the alleged fraud in running Schoodic EMS, which provided ambulance service to both Gouldsboro and the neighboring town of Winter Harbor.
According to McKee, McLean and McCartney both were accused of submitting ineligible or fabricated emergency medical technician stipend reimbursements to Gouldsboro between April 2021 and April 2022, when they both worked for the town. McLean was accused of receiving $9,950 through the allegedly fraudulent scheme, while McCartney allegedly received nearly $25,000, McKee wrote.
It’s not clear if McCartney has hired a lawyer to represent him in the case. He was arrested on Jan. 8 and released three days later on $500 bail, according to officials at Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth.
McCartney did not respond to a voicemail message left for him on Tuesday.
McCartney worked for the town of Gouldsboro for more than 10 years, from the fall of 2011 until late April 2022, town officials have said. The scheme of alleged criminal conduct, by both McCartney and McLean, ran from early 2021 until late April 2022, according to court documents.
McCartney resigned from his job as the town’s emergency medical services operations manager in April 2022. McLean resigned as fire chief a month later, before taking a job as Winter Harbor’s fire chief and road commissioner. McLean was fired in Winter Harbor on Sept. 1, 2023, after being arrested on charges related to his former job in Gouldsboro.
When both men were still employed in Gouldsboro, McLean supervised McCartney and twice wrote him letters of reprimand for his performance on the job.
In March 2020, McLean reprimanded McCartney for his “attitude and vulgar language” at the fire station and the adjacent town office.
Later that year, in December, McLean reprimanded McCartney for not giving the town adequate notice that he would miss work because of a doctor’s appointment, and he listed several ways in which McCartney’s work performance needed to improve.
Among the items that McLean listed in McCartney’s December 2020 work improvement plan were completing paperwork properly and in a timely manner, overseeing training and certification of new emergency medical technicians and ensuring ambulances were properly cleaned, stocked with supplies, and maintained in good working order.
“Together you and I have put a lot of sweat and blood into Schoodic EMS,” McLean wrote. “I know deep down you don’t want to see it fail but your attitude and your work ethic in office needs to improve greatly.”
