PORTLAND — An Old Orchard Beach man was sentenced to one year probation and ordered to pay restitution after pleading guilty in June to stealing scrap metal from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery when he worked there as a civilian employee.
Michael Gamash, 65, was ordered to pay $62,000 in restitution to the U.S. Navy during his appearance Thursday at U.S. District Court in Portland.
A plea agreement on file at the court cites “recognition of defendant’s extraordinary acceptance of responsibility and his lessening the burden on the court system by pleading guilty in advance of normalization of court operations,” among other factors, including waiving his right to appeal his guilty plea.
According to court records, from about April 2014 to June 2016, Gamash took scrap metal belonging to the U.S. Navy from dump containers at PSNY and sold it to two area metal dealers.
In his interview with NCIS investigators, court records show, Gamash said that he “stashed” scrap metal within the first-floor tool room of a building at PNSY, so he could retrieve it and sell it later.
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