AUGUSTA — A former town official from Acton was found guilty Friday of 19 counts of tax evasion after an eight-day jury trial in York County Superior Court, Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills announced Monday.

Richard Weymouth, 67, was found guilty of income, sales and use tax evasion from 2006 through 2012, as well as with homestead exemption fraud, Mills said.

Mills said Weymouth evaded taxes by falsely claiming on tax documents he lived and operated a business in New Hampshire.

Weymouth is a resident of Acton, where he was elected to several terms on the town’s budget committee and road committee, she said.

Mills also said Weymouth operated R.W. Construction Co., a snowplow and excavation business, which plowed roads for the town of Action.

For tax purposes, however, he claimed to reside with his mother in Rochester, N.H., and used a post office box in Milton Mills, N.H.

During certain years, between 2006 through 2012, Weymouth evaded Maine and Federal income taxes by failing to report most of the income he earned from his business, Mills said.

In addition, he evaded state sales and use taxes on his purchases of several trucks and heavy equipment for his business by falsely claiming in tax documents that he was a legal resident of New Hampshire and that his trucks and equipment were stored outside of Maine.

Weymouth paid roughly $42,000 in back Maine taxes — including tax, interest and penalties — as he was going to trial. Additionally, he owes the town of Acton for an undetermined amount in excise taxes, and he must still resolve his federal income tax liability.

“By misrepresenting what state he lived in, Mr. Weymouth sought to avoid the taxes that his neighbors pay and shifted the expenses to other Maine citizens,” Mills said. “My office will vigorously prosecute those who seek to avoid paying their fair share by falsely claiming they live in another state.”

Assistant Attorney General Gregg Bernstein prosecuted the case. Russell Veysey, a senior investigator with Maine Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, conducted the investigation.

A York County jury reached its verdict Friday, according to Mills. Sentencing on the 19 criminal charges is expected to take place in about 45 days in York County Superior Court.

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