Anctil, 26, of Lewiston, agreed to a 25-year sentence with nine years suspended. He’ll serve 16 years.

“I hope you take advantage of all the opportunities you get in prison, because you are going to get out,” Justice MaryGay Kennedy said.

Anctil accepted the plea deal from the state, in part, because he was facing federal gun sentences that might have lasted just as long, according to defense attorney James Howaniec.

The state dropped charges of elevated aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The remaining charge, robbery, carried a maximum 30-year penalty.

Anctil offered no explanation for the May 23 crime. Rather, he quietly nodded and said, “Yes,” when asked repeatedly by Kennedy if his guilty plea was made of his own free will.

Had he gone to trial, he would have faced his victim, meat salesman Kristopher Klimek, and witnesses who placed Anctil at the scene with a 9-mm handgun, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis said.

Court papers detailed Anctil’s crime, luring Klimek to the corner of Bates and Granite streets with a text message.

“Mr. Klimek drove to Granite Street and entered what appeared to be an abandoned building,” Matulis said Tuesday. “Mr. Klimek went to the first-floor hallway and decided not to stay in the building. When he turned around, there was a male in the doorway with black hair wearing a bandanna. The male pulled a handgun and told Kristopher to give him all of his money.

“Kristopher thought that the statement by the man was a joke and started to walk away,” Matulis said. “The male then shot Kristopher in the abdomen and the bullet exited through Kristopher’s back leg. The male then ran away without taking the money he had asked for.”

Witnesses would have included a woman who drove Anctil to the scene, a neighbor who saw him wearing the mask and armed with the gun, and a man who helped Anctil hide his gun in a barn, Matulis said.

Among the details to be described was Anctil smashing the phone he used to send the text and spreading the pieces around the city.

It would have been enough to get a conviction, the prosecutor said.

Matulis said Klimek is recovering from the gunshot wound and has told court officials he is satisfied with Anctil’s sentence.

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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