Manslaughter is punishable by up to 40 years.

ALFRED (AP) – A Sanford man plans to plead guilty to manslaughter Friday in the shooting death of his housemate nearly a year ago, his lawyer says.

Dallas Sizemore, 21, is accused of holding a 12-gauge shotgun that discharged into the mouth of Scott Vermette, 18, on Jan. 15 in the Pioneer Avenue duplex he shared with six other adults and two children.

Defense counsel Stephen Schwartz said his client is scheduled to enter his guilty plea to reckless or criminally negligent manslaughter in York County Superior Court on Friday, three days before the case was to go to trial.

“There’s been a lot of reflection by Dallas over the course of the past few months,” Schwartz said.

He said his client’s decision to plead guilty was also based on evidence in the case, but he declined to elaborate.

Schwartz said he was continuing his discussions with prosecutors over a recommended sentence. Manslaughter is punishable by up to 40 years.

Sizemore has been held at York County Jail on $50,000 bail since he turned himself in to Maine State Police several days after the shooting.

During Sizemore’s arraignment last February, Assistant Attorney General Robert LeBrasseur said the evidence would show Sizemore supplied the shotgun that Vermette put in his mouth. The defendant cocked the shotgun, took the safety off and pulled the trigger, LeBrasseur said.

AP-ES-01-08-04 1341EST



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