CHESTERVILLE (AP) – Alcohol was a factor in the fatal fall of a student who had just completed his freshman year at the University of Maine at Farmington, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

Benjamin Paytas, 19, of West Farmington, tumbled from an 80-foot cliff overlooking Sand Pond while reaching down to retrieve a pack of cigarettes he had dropped Wednesday night, sheriff’s Cpl. Nathan Bean said.

Paytas and a friend had been drinking and alcohol was a factor, as were rocks that were slippery from several days of rain, Bean said.

The case has been handed over to the district attorney for possible prosecution that could include a charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor, he said.