RUMFORD — Lawyer Ron Hoffman was suspended from practicing law a year after admitting to phoning in a pair of bomb threats to schools in 2012.

The suspension itself comes with a twist — according to the Maine Overseers of the Bar, Hoffman’s suspension was, itself, suspended, meaning he can continue to practice law on a probationary basis.

Hoffman had been charged with misdemeanor terrorizing after phoning bomb threats to Cushing and Academy Hill schools in Wilton on March 29, 2012.

He later pleaded no contest to the charge. He was ordered to serve a year in jail, although that sentence was also suspended.

Hoffman, 53, lives in Sumner and practices law in Rumford.

According to the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, Hoffman is required to comply with the conditions of his Maine Assistance Program contract for the next five years. He is subject to random mental health and drug testing and must submit his law practice to monitoring by a Wilton lawyer. Additionally, Hoffman was ordered to attend and complete a seminar focusing on stress management in the law field.

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If Hoffman violates any of those conditions, his suspension could be implemented.

When he entered his plea in September 2012, Hoffman’s attorney, James Martemucci, told the court that Hoffman suffers from multiple severe and chronic diseases. Martemucci said that at the time the threats were made, Hoffman was taking 10 medications a day with no monitoring of interaction.

Along with diabetes, Hoffman suffers from Graves’ disease, which is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid, compulsive disorder and depression, Martemucci said. There is a “Graves’ rage” from the disease that can cause irrational behavior, but Martemucci said Hoffman has accepted 100 percent of the responsibility.

“I apologize to Franklin County. It’s my fault, and I take responsibility,” Hoffman said at the court appearance last year. “I’m not asking for forgiveness or for anyone to feel sorry for me.”

Hoffman spoke of how his actions deeply affected his wife, their two adopted children, a foster child, colleagues and friends. He also said he was highly sensitive to medications.


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