AUGUSTA (AP) — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has upheld a 60-year prison sentence for a former Lewiston karate school operator convicted of drugging and raping two boys.
But Wade Hoover won’t begin serving the state sentence until he completes a 40-year federal sentence for producing and possessing child pornography.
The supreme court ruling Tuesday upheld the sentence imposed in Superior Court.
The court previously rejected Hoover’s argument that dual prosecutions in state and federal court violated his constitutional protections against double jeopardy.
In the state case, Hoover pleaded guilty to four counts of gross sexual assault for drugging, abusing and videotaping the assaults of two boys.
The court said the sentence was appropriate given aggravating factors including the victims’ ages and that the abuse carried on for years.
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