SKOWHEGAN -- Authorities in Maine seek to extradite a 20-year-old New York man for his alleged role in the July 23 armed robbery of a Madison credit union.

Jose A. Flores, of 155th Street, the Bronx, is being held in New York City on a Class A felony robbery charge, Evert Fowle, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties, said Thursday.

Flores was indicted on a single count of robbery by a Somerset County grand jury last week. He faces up to 30 years in prison on the charge, if convicted.

State, county and local police were dispatched to the Franklin Somerset Federal Credit Union on Main Street, Madison, around 11 a.m. July 23 after two bank tellers reported being robbed at gunpoint.

Two black or Latino men in their late teens or early 20s reportedly entered the credit union, displayed a handgun and demanded cash.

The men were said to be of slim build, wearing hooded sweatshirts and some kind of masks over their faces.

Police say the men made off with an undisclosed amount of money in a car that was waiting for them at the Madison boat landing.

"Mr. Flores is in custody in New York City," Fowle said. "We have initiated extradition proceedings to get him back up here to face prosecution here."

Fowle said Flores is fighting extradition, a process that could take three or four months to finalize.

"Our governor has to prepare a request for extradition and it has to be submitted to their governor," Fowle explained.

Assistant District Attorney Brent Davis, at the Skowhegan office, said Flores was arrested by New York City police on a Maine warrant.

Police from Maine were not involved in the arrest, he said.

A felony arrest warrant for another man, Michael Philips, 21, a onetime resident of Winslow, also has been issued in connection with the robbery, Davis said.

Frank Allen, 33, of Skowhegan, was arrested in Madison on July 28 and charged with hindering the apprehension of the two armed robbers by allegedly giving them a place to hide following the robbery.

That crime is a Class B felony, punishable with a conviction by up to 10 years in prison. Allen later was released on bail.

Joshua Lieberman, 19, of Stream Road, Moscow, was arrested July 29, a day after Allen's arrest, and charged with being the driver of the getaway car. He is charged with Class A robbery.

Lieberman remains at the Somerset County Jail in Skowhegan on $100,000 cash bond.

The alleged getaway car, a 2002 Oldsmobile, was recovered by police in South Solon.

Documents related to the Lieberman case at Somerset County Superior Court indicate the car was registered to a Skowhegan woman who has not been charged.

In his transcribed interview with police, Lieberman said the two robbers left the car to go to the credit union while he waited at the boat landing, a short distance by a foot trail through woods behind the credit union.

Lieberman told police the men got back in the car after the robbery and he sped away. He said he swerved to avoid a roadblock set up by Madison Police and made it out of town.

He said they drove to a dirt road in Solon where the car was left.

Money bands, used to hold cash at banks and credit unions, were found inside the car and in a black backpack, which also was found in the car, according to court records.

Documents also list eight people, including two young women, with whom Lieberman is not to have contact.

Police reports indicate there were two women in the car as it sped down Route 43 in Madison toward Solon and U.S. Route 201.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534 ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com