Congratulations to the Maine Marine Patrol for apprehending an admitted poacher and former Maine Chief Game Warden Thomas Santaguida. It gives me hope there are people out there who are willing to stand up for the law, and no one is above it.

I hope the good people of Maine aren’t fooled by Santaguida’s feeble “honest mistake” claim. Anyone who has handled any amount of lobsters, especially someone who has done so for 35 years, can sort out short lobsters in his sleep. One would have been a mistake; nine is a disregard for state laws and its natural resources – two key elements the Maine Warden Service is supposed to uphold and protect.

I don’t believe that the incident is isolated. It is but a single grain of sand in the desert of corruption that is the Maine Warden Service. Too long, outcries about the harsh tactics of the warden service have fallen on deaf ears. If anyone complained about the warden service, it was filed with the service and investigated by the service.

How convenient.

Now is the time for action. A massive audit is needed. We also need district attorneys unafraid to prosecute law-breaking wardens. Santaguida deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

He has disgraced himself, the warden service, and the state.

Tom Dube, Greene