AUBURN — A Sabattus man was released from jail Thursday after he pleaded no contest to felony gun possession.

Marty Paige, 34, was sentenced to 123 days of time served at Androscoggin County Jail and a fine of $1,000.

In addition to the class C felony of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, an Androscoggin County grand jury had indicted Paige in February on counts of aggravated attempted murder, reckless conduct and assault. Those three charges were dismissed Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Worden said.

A class C felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $5,000.

Police said in an affidavit for a search warrant that Paige had been at Club VYBZ at 347 Lisbon St, Lewiston, on Dec. 18 where several people reported shots were fired.

Worden told Androscoggin County Superior Court Active-Retired Justice Carl O. Bradford that an altercation occurred at the club and Paige later showed a firearm.

According to the police affidavit, a witness and his girlfriend said Paige shot at him after he left the club. But no other witnesses corroborated their narrative and little physical evidence was found by police to prove Paige’s guilt to a jury, Worden said later.

No weapon was recovered, he said.

An investigation conducted after the indictment “did not lead us to the conclusion that there was significant evidence beyond a finding of probable cause that Mr. Paige was the shooter,” Worden said after the plea hearing. “The physical evidence could not demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that Marty Paige was the individual who fired the weapon that evening.”

Although there were about 13 people on the street where the shooting occurred that night, only the apparent victim and his girlfriend implicated Paige, Worden said.

It was the second time in three years Paige has been charged with attempted murder.

In 2009, he was convicted in Androscoggin County Superior Court of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon after prosecutors dropped the charge of attempted murder. In that case, Paige was accused of holding a dangerous weapon to the throat of a woman in a bathroom at 7-Eleven.

That victim told police she was in the store bathroom with another girl when Paige began banging on the door. When she opened the door, Paige pushed his way in, saying he was going to choke her, a prosecutor said.

Paige slammed the woman against a toilet at the back wall, his hands moving to her throat. He pulled a pen-like object from his pocket and held it to the woman’s throat, threatening to kill her, according to the prosecutor.

Because of that conviction, Paige is prohibited from carrying a gun.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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