PORTLAND – A judge Wednesday sentenced a Massachusetts man to spend 3 years in prison in connection with a boating accident that killed two people on Long Lake in Harrison last year.

The judge admonished the defendant, saying his lack of remorse was “stunning.”

Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Robert Crowley noted that Robert LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., lied under oath when he testified at his two-week trial. Crowley called LaPointe’s testimony “self-serving.” He sought to minimize his role in the dramatic boat collision and “blamed the victim” instead, Crowley said.

At the time of the accident, LaPointe was more concerned about his damaged boat and missing car keys than the missing victims from the other boat, Crowley said.

A jury convicted LaPointe in September of two counts of aggravated operating a watercraft under the influence. Jurors deadlocked on three additional charges, including two counts of manslaughter and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

Satisfied with the sentence, Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson said outside the courthouse Wednesday she would dismiss the remaining charges.

“We gave it our very best the first time around,” Anderson said. “We really put our whole heart and souls in it.”

She had asked for five years with all but four suspended. Crowley gave LaPointe five years with all but 3 years suspended.

A blood-alcohol test taken about three hours after the crash showed LaPointe’s level at 0.11 percent. The legal threshold in Maine is 0.08 percent. An expert at the trial estimated LaPointe’s level at the time of the crash was about 0.15 percent.

“Robert LaPointe acts like he is special,” Crowley said. “Clearly, the defendant doesn’t think the rules apply to him.”

That was evidenced by LaPointe’s driving history, including 23 speeding infractions, plus five failures to stop for red lights or stop signs, Crowley said. LaPointe’s license had reportedly been suspended a dozen times and he had been cited as a habitual offender, Anderson told the judge.

LaPointe was driving his 32-foot speedboat powered by twin 425-horsepower engines on Long Lake on Aug. 11, 2007. Shortly after 9 p.m., his boat smashed into the back of a 14-foot motorboat driven by Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Harrison and his passenger and girlfriend, 44-year-old Suzanne Groetzinger of Berwick. LaPointe’s boat, called “No Patience,” vaulted the smaller boat, ejecting LaPointe and his 20-year-old passenger, Nicole Randall, who swam together to shore.

LaPointe’s unmanned boat continued at the same speed until it reached land, then climbed up a hill 160 feet into the woods before it was stopped by trees.

‘Just not credible’

LaPointe told a Maine warden the boat was going 45-50 mph when it hit Trott’s boat. By some estimates, he was going 65 mph, according to prosecutors’ experts.

He admitted to the hospital nurse who drew his blood that he’d been drinking beer all day, paused for an hour, then continued to drink that night.

But on the witness stand, LaPointe said his boat was traveling about 30 mph and he’d drunk only a few beers that day.

“That’s just not credible,” Justice Crowley said.

About a dozen family members and friends of the victims spoke in court, some scolding LaPointe.

Meg Harvey, a friend of Groetzinger’s, said her friend was “minding her own business watching the stars with her new love when everything ended for her.”

Unlike LaPointe, who still has his family and friends, “She is gone and we will never have her back,” Harvey said.

She turned to LaPointe while she stood at the lectern. “Your actions were all preventable,” she said. “You did not need to drink.” He didn’t need to speed at night in the direction of Trott’s boat, which he had seen moments earlier, she said.

“You knew the boat was there. You knew it and you still revved up the engines and took my friend’s life.”

Steve Sokol, Groetzinger’s brother, spoke for her siblings. “Two innocent people had their lives ended by an irresponsible person.”

His sister never got to see her granddaughter, who was born only months after the crash.

She left behind three children. One of them, Jordan Edwards, is a teenager who said he lamented never having had a fully developed relationship with his mother. Groetzinger’s own mother had died when she was 11 years old, Sokol said.

“This man needs to be held accountable,” said Heather Blake, a friend of Trott.

His son, Adam Trott, said he had looked forward to reconciling with his father, with whom he had had a falling out. “Now, I can’t do that,” he said.

No remorse

No one spoke on LaPointe’s behalf. He declined to give a statement before his sentencing. A member of the audience shouted: “Coward.”

Although he’d been free on bail until Wednesday, court officers cuffed his hands behind his back in the courtroom after the sentencing and led him through the courthouse into another room before putting him on a bus. His wife and family broke down as they watched him shackled.

A letter he wrote to the judge expressed no remorse and was filled with the words “I” and “me,” and took no responsibility for his actions, Crowley said. Of the victims, LaPointe wrote: “I prayed every day and every night for them and their families. You always hear about tragedy and you always think, ‘That could never happen to us.’ Well, it can.”

The letter continued: “Every time the phone rang or the news came on, I got sick to my stomach. When it was confirmed the victims had been recovered, I dropped to my knees and prayed for the victims, your honor. I am so sorry.”

Crowley said LaPointe doesn’t acknowledge his role in causing the deaths of the two victims.

Anderson had asked that the Maine Warden Service be reimbursed for nearly $70,000 in expenses related to the diving effort over days that resulted in the recovery of the victims’ remains. Groetzinger had been badly cut and likely died instantly. Trott suffered severe injuries, but died from drowning, a medical examiner testified during the trial.

Crowley declined to award restitution, saying LaPointe’s money would be better spent in an award to families of the victims, who are expected to pursue wrongful death civil lawsuits.

Crowley said LaPointe’s sentence probably wouldn’t match the loss of lives suffered by the victims’ families and they likely are “going to be disappointed.”