Rockport businessman Russell “Rusty” Brace has pleaded guilty to three felony counts related to his $4.6 million embezzlement from the Midcoast charity he led for 17 years.
The Bangor Daily News reported that Brace, who was tried in U.S. District Court in Portland, faces up to 30 years in prison and a multi-million-dollar fine for one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution and two counts of tax fraud and making false statements.
His sentencing date is set for Sept. 18.
Brace previously reached a settlement for a separate, civil lawsuit with Camden-based United Mid-Coast Charities, agreeing to pay the $4.6 million. Investigators had found that Brace had accepted donation checks and deposited them into his own bank account at The First N.A.’s branch in Camden for the majority of his tenure as the charity’s president. The charity has since reached an undisclosed settlement with the bank.
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