FARMINGTON – An Augusta man pleaded guilty Monday to two charges in connection with a Dec. 20, 2006, robbery at the Big Apple in Wilton. He was ordered to serve four years in prison on the charges.

State prosecutors dismissed a charge of felony robbery against David A. Moody, 39.

The robbery charge was dismissed due to problems with police work within the Wilton Police Department, said Assistant District Attorney James Andrews when questioned by Justice Michaela Murphy. The department had an interim chief between the time Chief Wayne Gallant left to become Oxford County sheriff and current Chief Dennis Brown was hired.

Another issue, Andrews said, was whether evidence discovered after a consent search of the man’s sister’s home in Jay would be admissible in court.

Moody pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.

If the case had gone to trial, Andrews said the court would have heard testimony that a man wearing a white sweatshirt walked into the Big Apple on routes 2 and 4 at 5:20 a.m., walked around for a while, then went to the counter clerk and pulled out a large handgun with a scope mounted on it. The clerk put the cash register drawer on the counter and the man took about $300 then fled.

The court would also have heard about a trained police dog that followed a track to where a faded Saab had been located. It was the same car that a witness had seen earlier and was also spotted on store surveillance tapes.

Later that day, Franklin County Sheriff Deputy Christopher Chase, the handler of the police dog, went to assist Jay police officers who were serving a warrant on David Moody in an unrelated matter. Moody was staying at his sister’s home in Jay, Andrews said.

While at the home, Chase noticed the faded Saab, he said.

A consent search of the home was done, and a handgun was found rolled in a towel. About $300 in cash also was discovered, Andrews said.

Testimony also would have shown that Moody had borrowed some gloves and his sister’s Saab to go to the store, Andrews said.

The plea agreement reached between Moody and his attorney, Kevin Joyce, and Andrews was that Moody be sentenced to serve one year at the Maine Department of Corrections for illegal possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

He was also sentenced to serve three years of a five-year sentence for criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and two years probation.