LEWISTON — An Auburn man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of giving alcohol to a minor in connection with teens charged with vandalism at Riverside Cemetery last month.
Phillip J. McDaniel, 21, of 236 Main St. appeared in 8th District Court where he entered his plea to a charge of Class D furnishing liquor to a minor.
In an Androscoggin County grand jury indictment, he was accused of supplying alcohol to Shane Michael Haskell, and/or John Manchester, and/or Jesse Macia, who were all younger than 21.
Haskell, 20, and Macia, 18, and Billie Coburn, 18, all of Lewiston, were charged with aggravated criminal mischief and desecration of a burial site.
Some of the headstones were 200 years old and weighed 1,000 pounds or more. Many were completely torn from their bases, including those marked with small American flags as veterans' graves. A few stones had rolled downhill and were found beside the cemetery road.
Cemetery officials have estimated damage at more than $50,000.
Phillip McDaniel of Auburn was arraigned in 8th District Court in Lewiston on Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty to furnishing alcohol to three minors in connection with recent Riverside Cemetery vandalism.
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