AUGUSTA — Frank Monroe’s 2011 lawsuit against the town of Chelsea over a snowplow contract is finished.
A dismissal submitted to Kennebec County Superior Court this week was signed by Monroe’s attorney, Michelle Allott, and the town’s attorney, Stephen Langsdorf.
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Monroe sued the town in 2011 for more than $100,000 in damages, claiming the town had extended his 2010 plowing contract another two years. The town claimed it was invalid.
That dispute was blamed on Carole Swan, then a Chelsea selectwoman, who allegedly replaced a two-year contract signed by Monroe, a Whitefield contractor, with a one-year contract which all three selectmen signed.
“She told him she was going to be executing a two-year contract for plowing services, had him sign it, then took to the other selectmen in executive session,” Allott said. Allott said she learned from the federal prosecutor in the criminal case against her that they signed a one-year contract and Swan substituted a page indicating it was for two years.
Sharon Morang, a selectwoman from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2010, testified in September at Swan’s trial on extortion charges that she had approved only a one-year extension of Monroe’s plowing contract with the town. She said she crossed out the second year before giving it her approval. Another former selectwoman, Tanya Condon, also testified about approving a one-year contract renewal for Monroe.
Neither woman said she could explain how a two-year contract appeared on the town warrant or why there were several versions of the contract.
Monroe testified at the same trial that he was given the final two pages of a two-year renewal.
Allott said the prosecutor told her the original signature page of the one-year contract with Monroe was found in a closet at Swan’s home.
“He thought that the town had signed off on two years,” Allott said.
On the strength of that contract, she said, Monroe spent $60,000 on two pieces of equipment that he didn’t need when the contract was canceled.
Attorneys representing the town and Monroe agreed to a $20,000 settlement that was approved 31-20 by secret ballot at a special Chelsea town meeting in early April.
“By settling this case now with Frank Monroe and with Carole Swan’s sentencing coming up this week, the town is ready to put this whole ugly chapter in the rear view mirror and move forward with all the positive things that have happened over the past three years,” Langsdorf said on Wednesday.
Swan is to be sentenced in federal court on Friday. She was convicted of extorting money from Monroe in exchange for the town’s plowing contract, defrauding the federal workers’ compensation program in 2008 and 2010 and filing five years’ worth of fraudulent tax returns.
Monroe is expected to testify at the sentencing hearing.
“In the end, Frank wanted to put this behind him, and he hopes this will be the final chapter,” Allott said. “He’s spent a lot of time and energy as part of this prosecution. He didn’t do anything to try and keep his contract. He believed he had two years.”
She said extortion is a crime of power, and it was used against Monroe. “He had a performance bond at risk that she was holding over his head,” Allott said. “He is a hero. He is the guy who was willing to stand up and be counted.”
When Carole Swan’s husband, contractor Marshall Swan, was sentenced last week for income tax fraud, the judge praised Monroe for coming to police about the extortion scheme.
The judge also found that Marshall Swan was behind the vandalism of Monroe’s pickup trucks and work vehicles several days after the Swans were indicted on federal charges.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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