FARMINGTON — The fate of the three men who admitted to a Halloween crime spree that culminated in kidnapping and armed robbery is still unclear, after the court postponed a sentencing hearing until late July.

Kevin S. Crandall, 28, of Wilton, Marcus A. Thompson, 26, of Farmington, and Michael E. Kidd Jr., 21, of New Vineyard pleaded guilty to kidnapping, robbery, and related charges in Franklin County Superior Court earlier this year.

Kidd’s lawyer, Christopher Dilworth, said the complexity and unique nature of the case are making it time-consuming to track down precedents for sentencing. He and the lawyers representing Crandall and Thompson are visiting superior courts in Bangor, Alfred and Portland to review records of individual cases.

Defense lawyers have until July 11 to submit their sentencing recomendations and prosecutor James Andrews, the Franklin County assistant district attorney, has until July 20 to file a response. The court is expected to schedule all three sentencing hearings for the same day in late July.

During a Halloween crime spree, Kidd burglarized three area homes. All three then donned black ski masks and forced their way into the Seamons Road home of a married couple in their 60s, who thought they were opening the door to trick-or-treaters.

The intruders knocked the man to the ground and held the couple at gunpoint while ransacking the house for valuables. Crandall then held the wife hostage while Kidd and Thompson forced the husband to drive to area automated teller machines and withdraw $700. The victims were threatened with knives and guns and were told that they would be killed if they reported the incident to the police.

By the time of the home invasion, police were already looking for a 2000 Blue Ford Taurus that had been seen earlier at one of the burglarized homes, according to a statement from Office Michael Adcock of the Farmington Police Department.

When the car was noticed in a field behind Mt. Blue High School, there was a container of marijuana inside the vehicle in plain sight, Detective Mark Bowering said in court records. After investigating further, police found stolen property, including prescription drugs, and nine guns in the trunk.

A police dog unit led investigators to Crandall and Thompson in the woods 20 minutes later; they were arrested after they tried to flee.

Stolen property included more than $2,500 in cash, OxyContin pills, a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber handgun, a .357 Ruger handgun and a .22 caliber rifle.

As part of a plea agreement, each of the three gunmen will choose between one of two sentencing options. In the first, each man faces 15 mandatory years in prison followed by four years of probation; committing a crime while on probation would trigger an additional 10-year sentence.

In the second option, the prosecution agrees to a cap of 20 years in prison, and provides for possible reductions in the sentence, as well as probation conditions.

Dilworth said that the information being gathered by the defense attorneys will likely determine which option is chosen. If precedents show that a 15 or 20 year sentence is justified, they will be more likely to choose the first option. However, if they feel that precedents indicate a lighter sentencing is in order, they may choose the second option, in the hopes that the judge would agree to a shorter sentence.

Had the men been convicted of the crimes without a plea agreement, they would have been subject to a maximum of 30 years in prison for each of the two kidnapping charges alone.

Thompson’s older brother, Joel Thompson, 37, said family members are supportive of him, even as they understand that he must accept responsibility for the crimes he committed.

“There’s no excusing what he did,” he said. “It was a terrible mistake that he made, and he knows it.”

Joel Thompson said he had held just one phone conversation with his brother since he was taken into custody, but that Marcus Thompson showed remorse for his action. “It was mostly crying,” he said.

He said the family hopes the prison sentence will give Thompson a chance to find a new direction for his life.

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling — 861-9287

mhhetling@centralmaine.com