PARIS – The jury charged with deciding whether Maine guide Lawrence Perry is guilty of breaking Maine’s hunting laws deliberated for three hours Thursday without reaching a verdict.

The 12-member Oxford County Superior Court jury was dismissed for the weekend by presiding Judge Ellen Gorman and will continue deliberations Monday morning.

On Thursday, defense lawyer William Maselli came out swinging against undercover Maine Warden William Livezey, the state’s star witness, during closing arguments in the case.

“He’s essentially nothing more than a professional con man, and he enjoys it,” Maselli said, noting that Livezey is a 15-year member of the Maine Warden Service who has worked undercover cases since 1996.

In the end, Maselli said, it comes down to one man’s word against another’s.

Maselli told the jury that Livezey, posing as a bear hunter, used entrapment in the fall of 2003 to build a case against Perry, 56, of Fryeburg, who is well known in bear hunting circles for breeding top hunting dogs.

With 29 separate hunting charges against him, Perry faces a possible six months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines. If convicted, he almost certainly will lose his Maine hunting license and his guide’s license for several years.

Thirteen other hunters who were also charged in the sting operation, including two other Maine guides and a Lovell selectman, have agreed to guilty pleas in return for the state’s dismissal of some of the charges against them.

Only Perry has taken his case to trial. He said he has spent $30,000 fighting the charges against him.

Maselli asked the jury why Perry would have allowed Livezey to have “free rein” at his home throughout the hunting season if he had something to hide.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph O’Connor said it was “preposterous” to think Livezey would lie about the events he witnessed. Livezey is sworn to uphold Maine’s hunting laws, said O’Connor, and is allowed to engage in illegal activity while working under cover.

O’Connor also scoffed at Perry’s statements that he lives for his dogs and isn’t really interested in hunting.

He reminded the jury how Perry, on several occasions in Livezey’s presence, stopped his truck and got out with his gun when he saw wildlife, such as a fox, bobcat or deer.

“He wants you to believe he had no interest in hunting,” O’Connor said. On the contrary, he said, the evidence shows that Perry “was always in a hunting mode. If there was something around and there was no one around to see it, he was going to take that shot.”

For example, O’Connor asked why Perry would keep the bolt on his rifle open while driving around, other than to remove the live round on a moment’s notice if he saw a game warden.

Maselli pointed out that the only animal Perry shot and killed during that hunting season was the treed bear during the first day of bear hunting. And he took the shot, Maselli said, only to save his dog from getting hurt.

O’Connor said Perry knew full well that he was driving deer, despite his testimony to the contrary.

Maselli said the state failed to prove that there was any “really clear evidence” that Perry was involved in driving deer. Keeping in touch with other hunters by radio does not equate to an organized planned effort to push deer in a direction toward hunters waiting to shoot, he said.

And O’Connor told the jury not to be swayed by the support shown Perry by Fryeburg Selectman Harry True, who testified that Perry had a reputation for truthfulness.

“He didn’t hang around with Perry,” O’Connor said. The same goes for two top hunting-dog breeders from Vermont, who testified that Perry never broke the law in their presence.

“Do you think that the defendant might have been on his very best behavior?” O’Connor asked.

The state also pointed to several prior convictions against Perry for hunting violations as evidence that “he was inclined to commit these crimes” whether Livezey encouraged him to or not.