More than 1,000 issues of The Free Press were stolen from the Portland and Gorham campus last Monday, following the theft of at least 1,000 papers the previous Thursday. USM Police have charged three suspects with theft: Cyrus Dulac and Sigma Nu brothers Jonathan McCorkill and Anthony Pergola, student senator and vice president of the Interfraternity Council.
The first thefts followed a controversial Question of the Week, “Are you in a fraternity/ sorority,” which only had “no” answers and contained some negative remarks about Greeks angering many in the Greek community.
The papers most recently stolen featured an article telling of the de-recognition of sorority Sigma Iota Sigma by the University for hazing and other violations.
Executive Editor Steve Peoples said he feels these articles led to the thefts.
“There’s no doubt it was about the controversy of the Question of the Week and the story we were going to run on the sorority being de-recognized,” said Peoples.
However, the thefts were not sponsored by the Greek community but were the acts of individuals acting on their own behalf said Rodney Mondor, assistant director, Student Involvement and Greek Affairs.
“I am considering this an individual happening,” said Mondor. “It was individuals who did it and not the entire (Greek) community.”
The USM Police Department has been investigating the thefts since the first occurrence. There is no known connection between the two thefts.
Police Detective Sgt. Ron Saindon presented the findings of the USM Police investigation to Assistant District Attorney William Barry Friday.
Barry will begin reviewing the case today to decide whether to go forward with the charges. If so, the suspects will appear in district or superior court. Their court date is tentatively set for Nov. 15.
If found guilty, the suspects could be fined and receive up to a year in jail, depending on the assessment of value attached to the stolen property, according to Bob Caswell, executive director for USM Media and Community Relations.
Several members of the community, including the University administration, sent letters to the district attorney stressing the severity of the crime despite the relatively small monetary value of the stolen property.
“It is easy to take for granted the right to Free Press, a pillar on which American democracy is based,” said Irwin Gratz, president of the Maine chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in his statement. “We take very seriously the allegations involving thefts of copies of the University of Southern Maine newspaper, The Free Press, and hope you will too.”
The impact of the crime reaches further than those who were deprived of a newspaper, according to The Free Press advisory board.
“There are other victims of these actions beyond the students and employees who lost the opportunity to be informed,” including advertisers and The Free Press staff, said Susan Swain of the advisory board, and associate director, Media and Community Relations.
The Free Press prints approximately $2,000 in advertisements per week, according to Peoples.
The case has been referred to the USM Office of Community Standards, which will conduct a student judiciary hearing.
The University’s Student Judiciary Committee will not proceed on the case until all investigations are complete to ensure all responsible parties are fairly represented and any links between the two thefts are made, said Steve Nelson, assistant to the vice president, Office of Community Standards.
“We will do a review on the police department’s good work to determine who gets charged with campus policy violations,” said Nelson last Friday. “The investigation is still in progress. I gave [the police] a name of another eyewitness. When the interview is complete, my office will take over any actions.”
Nelson was unable to comment on the sanctions the University will file on the three offenders if found guilty, but said there could be a wide range of actions taken.
“The disciplinary sanctions could range from a disciplinary warning to dismissal from the University.”
Nelson emphasized that the local decision of the conduct board and that of the district attorney are independent, and a decision of guilty by one does not necessarily imply the same decision by the other.
The police action leading up to the issuance of summons precipitated when staff of The Free Press witnessed the three suspects removing newspapers from newsstands on the Portland campus between 1:30 and 2 p.m. last Monday.
Free Press Advisor Bonita Rodden saw Pergola and two others who would not identify themselves loading papers into a Jeep outside the Woodbury Campus Center. She then called the police.
“I saw three young men carrying bails of paper to the red Jeep,” said Rodden. “I confronted them. Pergola (who had identified himself) said he was buying the papers, not stealing.”
The three individuals did not offer any money to Rodden.
Police arrived on the scene in Luther Bonney Hall after being called by other members of The Free Press. Pergola again claimed he intended to buy the papers – listed as 5 cents per additional copy – placing $14 cash on a stack of papers he had been removing.
At that time however, at least 500 papers had already been removed from the Woodbury Campus Center. Police found the papers in the Jeep.
No arrangement was made with The Free Press to buy any additional issues of the paper before they had been taken from the campus center, according to Peoples.
He added that no money was received by The Free Press for the more than 1,000 copies still missing from the Gorham campus and that no money was offered or received for copies stolen the previous week.
The 500 papers loaded into the Jeep were returned by the suspects under police escort.
Pergola and representatives of the Greek community did not return phone calls or e-mails to comment on the situation.
Mondor said tension has been building between the Greeks and The Free Press since the newspaper gained permission to enter a fraternity house to do a photo essay on rush week. The essay ended up focusing heavily on alcohol, promoting negative stereotypes of Greeks, according to Mondor.
The Free Press is currently communicating with the Greek community, trying to improve relations.
“I hope we can organize some sort of community forum to discuss our coverage by The Free Press and how a newspaper works – how papers decide what goes in the newspaper and reporting techniques,” said Rodden.
Assistant News Editor Matthew Clifford can be contacted at: [email protected].