BANGOR (AP) – A 59-year-old Skowhegan man has been sentenced to 6years in prison for possessing child pornography on his computer.

Dana Earl Cully pleaded guilty last June and was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

According to court records, authorities received information in June 2006 that Cully might be downloading and tranmitting child pornography over the Internet at his home. Cully consented to searches of his computer, which revealed more than 1,000 pornographic images involving children.

Cully faces five years of probation after he completes his prison term.

Robber sentenced to nearly 11 years

PORTLAND (AP) – A 42-year-old Kennebunk man has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for a monthlong bank robbery spree in three New England states.

Patrick Richelieu had pleaded guilty to robbing more than $100,000 from six banks in Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut, and another attempted robbery in Newington, N.H., that was thwarted by a bank customer. He was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

The robberies occurred between Nov. 9, 2006, and Dec. 6, 2006, while Richelieu was on probation for a prior federal conviction of bank fraud and identity theft. Judge George Singal sentenced him to 130 months for the robberies, plus an additional 30 months for violating probation.

Collins begs off overseas trip

PORTLAND (AP) – Maine Sen. Susan Collins won’t be able to accompany Vice President-elect Joe Biden and a group of Senate colleagues on a trip to southwest Asia this week.

Spokesman Kevin Kelley says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid changed the Senate’s schedule and expects to keep senators in session this week. Because of that, Collins and Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Jack Reed of Rhode Island had to beg off the trip.

Biden’s spokeswoman says the fact-finding mission will help inform executive and congressional reviews of U.S. policy toward the region in the coming months.

More surgery for 7-year-old Iraqi girl

PORTLAND (AP) – A 7-year-old Iraqi girl who underwent surgery in Maine last month to repair her skull won’t be returning home as early as expected.

Doctors have determined that Noora Afif Abdulhameed will need additional surgery to deal with a small area on her scalp that’s not healing properly.

Susi Eggenberger of Arundel, who helped bring Noora and her father to Portland, says a decision on the upcoming procedure could come Thursday. Doctors at Maine Medical Center had mended the damage caused by a sniper’s bullet two years ago in Iraq. Noora hoped to return home this month.

and Eggenberger says the girl and her father are obviously disappointed by the setback.

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