Repeated Civil Rights Violator Convicted and Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

February 6, 2009

For Immediate Release
February 6, 2009

Contact: Leanne Robbin (207) 822-0496 Kate Simmons (207) 626-8577

Repeated Civil Rights Violator Convicted and Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Augusta?Attorney General Janet Mills announced today that Anthony Cabana, age 42, formerly of Lyman, Maine, will be going to prison for violating an order under the Maine Civil Rights Act. In 1998, Cabana entered into a Consent Decree arising from allegations that he had engaged in violence or threatened violence against a number of women based on his bias against their gender. The order prohibited him from assaulting, using physical force or violence or threatening to use physical force or violence against any person motivated by bias based on sex, as well as the other factors under the Civil Rights Act. He violated the order later the same year and was sentenced to 364 days in jail.
The most recent case involving Cabana occurred on June 11, 2008, when he threatened his domestic partner of two years with a chain saw and then assaulted her by choking her, leaving bruises on her neck. After his arrest, Cabana wrote the victim a series of letters from the jail asking her to ?help get rid of these charges? by lying and saying that she had put the marks on her neck herself in order to get him out of the house.
On February 5, 2009, Cabana pled guilty in Superior Court in Alfred to the criminal violation of the Civil Rights Order, along with Domestic Violence Criminal Threatening with a Dangerous Weapon, Domestic Violence Assault and Victim Tampering. He was sentenced by Justice Fritzsche under a plea agreement imposing three years on the charges of violating the Civil Rights Order and the Domestic Violence Criminal Threatening, 364 days on the Domestic Violence Assault and seven years, all but four years suspended, on the Victim Tampering. After his release from prison, he will serve three years probation, during which time he could be ordered to return to jail if he violates the term of the Civil Rights Order, has any contact with the victim or uses any drugs or alcohol. Attorney General Mills said, ?Men who target women for abuse may be violating the Civil Rights Act. The Office of the Attorney General will bring civil rights actions where appropriate in order to deter serial violence against women.? The Attorney General?s Office has over 200 orders under the Civil Rights Act. Intentional violations of the orders constitute a Class D Crime punishable by up to 364 days in jail. That sentence may be increased if the conduct involves a dangerous weapon, as was the case here. The Attorney General?s Office has prosecuted seven criminal violations of Civil Rights Orders and all the criminal violations have resulted in jail time for the offender. The Attorney General?s Office would like to thank the Maine State Police for responding to the victim?s call and referring this matter for enforcement under the Civil Rights Act. -end-