Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline on Thursday morning called for councilor-elect Iman Osman to resign his seat after Osman was indicted Monday on charges relating to stolen firearms. He is slated to be sworn in Jan. 5.

Osman, who was elected last month to represent Ward 5, has been embroiled in controversy surrounding his legal residence in Lewiston, but has so far been able to withstand public pressure to relinquish his seat on the School Committee.

Following reports on Osman’s indictment Wednesday, Sheline said Thursday it is in the “best interest of our city for councilor-elect Osman to resign.”

“While he is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the judicial process will be lengthy and this matter has become an unwelcome distraction from the essential business of governing,” he said. “Stepping down would be the right thing to do.”

Osman, 36, has been charged with one count of receiving stolen property and one count of theft by unauthorized taking. The charges stem from the alleged theft of two firearms sometime between Nov. 15, 2023, and Oct. 11, 2024. 

Throughout the past few weeks, Osman has made all public comments on the matter through his attorney, Kiernan Majerus-Collins. In a statement Thursday, Majerus-Collins said “councilor-elect Osman denies these charges and intends to fight them” and “has no plans to step down from public office.”

Osman is scheduled to be sworn in at the city’s inauguration Jan. 5. At that point he would automatically relinquish his seat on the School Committee. He was nominated to the School Committee by Sheline and confirmed by the City Council in 2024 to fill a vacancy.

Sheline’s statement Thursday did not address Osman’s School Committee seat. Following news of the indictment Wednesday, Sheline told the Sun Journal that he trusts the judicial process and would be following the case closely.

Over the past few weeks, several members of the School Committee have called for an investigation into Osman stemming from his self-reported legal residence of 210 Blake St. Osman has not been living at the address, which was condemned in October 2024, but has said he intends to return as soon as possible. He has not publicly stated where he is living in the interim.

The state’s definition of residence for voter registration purposes is: “The residence of a person is that place where the person has established a fixed and principal home to which the person, whenever temporarily absent, intends to return.”

Janet Beaudoin, who has been one of the most vocal, said in a social media post Wednesday that the Superior Court indictment of Osman “is not a ‘wait and see’ situation.”

“It means the evidence was strong enough for a grand jury to push it into the highest trial court in the county. This is serious,” she said.

If Osman were to give up his seat, the City Council would have to call a special election.

City Clerk Kathy Montejo said for normal elections, the circulation period for nomination papers is 60 days, but the City Charter allows the council to shorten the circulation period to as short as 10 calendar days for special elections. Candidates would still need to first obtain a minimum of 50 signatures of registered voters in Ward 5, she said.

Montejo said Thursday she does not recall a time when an individual elected to any city public office resigned before they were sworn into office.