VASSALBORO – Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy decided Friday that a state police trooper who drove drunk on the Maine Turnpike in December must avoid any misconduct for three years or risk losing his law enforcement certification.

The board of trustees voted unanimously to approve a consent decree for Robin Parker, 46, of Sanford, who pleaded guilty in January to a drunken driving charge. The agreement requires Parker to see a counselor until the counselor decides it is no longer necessary.

Parker had previously been suspended for 60 days, demoted from sergeant to trooper and made ineligible for promotion for five years. He also was fined $500 and received a 90-day suspension of his driver’s license.

If Parker abides by its terms, the consent decree will be the last disciplinary step in his case.

Police reports on the case describe Parker as severely intoxicated on the night of Dec. 18, when he was stopped on the turnpike in Gray, tested and found to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.14 percent. Maine’s legal limit to drive is 0.08 percent.

A motorist called 911 at 8 p.m. on Dec. 18 to report that a white pickup truck was swerving from side to side in the turnpike’s northbound lanes. The pickup almost hit a tractor-trailer and a bridge abutment before Parker was pulled over, according to a police report.

Reports say the call came from a northbound driver in Portland, who said a white pickup had been swerving all over the road before speeding out of sight. “He saw it leave the travel lanes and kick up a cloud of dust as it almost struck a concrete bridge support structure,” said Trooper Duane Doughty’s report. The driver also saw the pickup almost sideswipe a Country Kitchen tractor-trailer.

The witness told police that he was very upset because he had his 2-year-old child in the car with him.

Doughty caught up with the pickup at mile 61 and saw the truck drift from the right edge of the travel lane, across the centerline and back, then straddle the centerline. Doughty pulled the truck over at mile 63.

“He produced his work identification and I recognized him as Robin Parker,” Doughty’s report said. “He subsequently produced his driver’s license at a later point in the investigation.”

Parker admitted that he had been drinking and said he was going to the Criminal Justice Academy, in Vassalboro. Doughty reported that he saw an open carton of Bud Light beer on the right side of the extra cab area, and an empty can between the driver’s seat and the door.

By that point, Sgt. James Urquhart and Trooper Lance McCleish had arrived.

“Sgt. Urquhart instructed me to proceed with the stop and investigation as I normally would,” Doughty said in his report.

Parker told Doughty that he had been drinking in York — 57 miles to the south — but had not had anything to drink for the past hour and a half. Parker failed a field sobriety test, unable to balance well on one foot or take several steps heel-to-toe while counting out loud.

Parker was taken to the state police barracks in Gray at 8:30 p.m. McCleish took Parker’s firearm from the center console of the truck and then drove the truck to a commuter lot, where it was left.

A trooper at the barracks was preparing the Intoxilyzer. The testing device had been in a van in the cold and had to be warmed up, so the test could not be done for about an hour. When Parker was tested, his blood alcohol content was 0.14 percent.

He eventually was given a ride home.

The report said Parker was cooperative and apologetic throughout the incident.

The drunken-driving conviction could have cost Parker, a 17-year veteran of the state police, his law enforcement certification. However, consent agreements have been a standard sanction in similar cases, said members of the board, which issues — and can revoke — the certification that officers need in Maine.

“It puts the person on notice that there is absolutely no leeway allowed for any untoward behavior,” said Linda Smithers, a citizen member of the board and the chair of its complaint committee.

Before the incident, Parker was a sergeant who supervised cadres at the Criminal Justice Academy. Cadres help cadets put their training into real-world use. Parker was removed from that position at the academy, in addition to being demoted and made ineligible for promotion for five years.

Col. Robert Williams, chief of the state police, suspended Parker for 60 days without pay or benefits, saying at the time that Parker’s behavior could have had tragic consequences.

Parker has had a good reputation among his peers. He served two tours of duty in Iraq with the Marines before joining the state police in 1994, and was selected as a cadre supervisor because he was a role model for young cadets.

In the days after he was charged, Parker issued an apology to fellow troopers, taking responsibility for his actions and saying the troopers who charged him performed appropriately.

Parker, who had an unblemished record before the incident, is now serving his suspension. When it is done, he will be given a desk job for 30 days, until his license is restored. He will then resume his patrols.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com