By DARLA L. PICKETT
Staff Writer Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Alex J. Stetkis, of Canaan, was sentenced to the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston until his 21st birthday in a plea agreement reached Monday in Skowhegan District Court, said Evert Fowle, district attorney for Somerset and Kennebec counties.

Justice Charles C. LaVerdiere also ordered Stetkis to pay restitution of $510 for the money not recovered in the robbery, Fowle said. The charges of Class A robbery with a gun and Class B conspiracy to commit robbery were heard in Skowhegan District Court.

The robbery occurred Dec. 15, when Stetkis and two other young men walked into the Snack Shack fast-food restaurant on Waterville Road. Stetkis brandished a handgun, later found to be unloaded, and another boy held a metal pipe. The three made off with about $2,000 in cash.

Andrew S. Williams, 17, of Smithfield, has yet to be sentenced. Dillon Perkins, 16, of Skowhegan, recently was sentenced to the same youth center and program as Stetkis until his 18th birthday, Fowle said.

Fowle said several factors entered into the decision not to try Stetkis as an adult, including the fact he had no prior criminal record and based on an evaluation by Robert Gallon, a psychologist hired by the State Forensic Service.

"He strongly recommended that he not be bound over to be tried as an adult," Fowle said. "Stetkis also was completely truthful and cooperated with the authorities. But most important was that the victims made it clear they did not think he should be bound over for trial as an adult. This view was important to us."

Defense attorney Kenneth Lexier said Stetkis and his parents were relieved the teen was sentenced as a juvenile.

"If he was found guilty as an adult he would have been spending many years in an adult correction facility," Lexier said.

Lexier said he believes the court made the right decision, even though Stetkis is almost an adult.

"He is a very young (17-year-old) whose reasoning and overall maturity is not that of an adult," Lexier said.

"There is no indication of a violent tendency or a mental health tendency."

Lexier commended Fowle for having done "the right thing" in the face of public sentiment for harsher punishment in crimes by teenagers.

"I am thankful everyone else can see the potential in Alex -- who he is, as opposed to what he did," Lexier said. "Alex will work hard up there and could be there until he's 21; that's certainly no slap on the wrist."

Fowle said a cross-section of the community -- including the police chief, a local minister and the probation and parole officer -- were contacted before the plea agreement was reached.

"I'm satisfied that this was the correct result," Fowle said. He said he now will work on Williams' case.

"It is our belief (Williams) was the mastermind who coordinated the plan of this robbery and provided the firearm, so his case has not been resolved yet," Fowle said. "We're gearing up to deal with him."

Darla L. Pickett -- 474-9534, Ext. 341

dpickett@centralmaine.com