Ex-Burton aide takes plea deal

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A convicted sex offender and former aide to Executive Councilor Ray Burton pleaded guilty Friday to charges of offering alcohol and tobacco to a minor.

Mark Seidensticker, of Concord and Ogunquit, Maine, asked for a new trial in Superior Court after being convicted of the same charges last year in a lower court.

Seidensticker accepted a plea deal that will allow him to avoid probation when he is released from jail.

He already has served six months in jail; under the deal, he will serve six more and pay a fine.

Seidensticker worked on Burton’s campaigns through the 1990s. He was arrested last summer in Concord.

Burton said he wasn’t fully aware of the extent of Seidensticker’s criminal record, which includes convictions for attempted sexual assault and failing to register as a sex offender. Burton had resisted pressure to resign.

AP-ES-03-10-06 1454EST