By BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff Writer Saturday, April 28, 2007

Sarah Forbes, 43, also is charged with felony operating under the influence of alcohol and causing the death of another person. She pleaded not guilty in Franklin County Superior Court.

On Feb. 25, Forbes' Mercury Mountaineer struck a 1990 Ski-Doo snowmobile operated by Richard Billian, 23, of Strong, at about 10:30 p.m. on Wilton Road, according to court documents.

According to court documents, Forbes' blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was .16 percent, twice the legal limit.

Forbes, who lives off High Street in Farmington, is currently out of jail on an unsecured bond on the condition that she not drive. She also was ordered not to possess or consume alcohol, and to submit to random searches and testing for alcohol use.

Billian and his fiancˇe, Lisa Cerqueira, 20, had been riding on a trail with a group of friends, according to police. One of the front runners on the sled got hung up on the curbing. According to the police report, as Billian got off to adjust it, the snowmobile was hit broadside.

Police said the impact threw Cerqueira 100 feet, leaving her critically injured with a torn aorta, liver lacerations and a shattered leg and arm. She died three days later.

In court Friday, Forbes, standing beside her attorney, John Alsop of Skowhegan, quietly answered "not guilty" to Judge Joseph Jabar's question on how she wished to plead to the charges.

A trial could take place as early as June but might be delayed until September due to the large amount of expert testimony both sides are expected to amass to prove their case to a jury, according to Franklin County Assistant District Attorney James Andrews.

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com