BANGOR — A former Franklin County assistant district attorney was sentenced Wednesday to two years probation and a $2,000 fine for telling a former law officer he was under investigation and for deleting text messages with him, according to her attorney Walter McKee of McKee Law in Augusta.
Kayla Alves, 37, of Farmington was dismissed from her position when the investigation and related activities came to light.
“It is not often that you see a defendant in federal court sentenced to probation and a fine. But Kayla’s case cried out for probation only, and what she did, combined with her incredible personal history, compelled a sentence that did not involve any jail. Thankfully Judge (Lance) Walker agreed,” McKee wrote in an email.
The sentence hearing was about 45 minutes at U.S. District Court in Bangor, he wrote.
Alves pleaded guilty to the federal charge in March.
McKee requested Alves spend no time in prison and be sentenced to probation while U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee and Assistant U.S. Attorney Noah Falk asked the court for zero to six months of incarceration, according to court documents.
Alves was initially one of 12 people charged in October 2020, but was not indicted, in an alleged criminal conspiracy operation of industrial cultivation and distribution of marijuana and other crimes including money laundering, tax fraud and public corruptions offenses.
Federal prosecutors allege that Lucas Sirois of Rangeley spearheaded the operation in Franklin County. Sirois and 14 others, including three businesses, are currently under indictment. All have pleaded not guilty. Trials are scheduled for November.
Sirois allegedly operated marijuana grows in violation of both federal law and relevant state law, though defense attorneys argue it was legally operated under Maine marijuana laws.
According to court documents, Bradley Scovil of Rangeley, a former Franklin County sheriff’s deputy, was under investigation with others in April 2020, and contacted local law enforcement to run license plates of vehicles believed to have been following them.
“Scovil contacted Kayla Alves to request her assistance in solving this mystery,” according to court documents. Alves had previously worked cases with Scovil, and was also his next door neighbor when he lived in Farmington, according to court documents.
As allegedly reflected in text messages “between Scovil and Alves later recovered by the FBI, Scovil asked Alves whether she knew ‘if (he) was being investigated'” by law enforcement because Scovil had someone follow him to different places and then back to work.
Alves replied she “wouldn’t know” because she was working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic but stated if she heard anything she would let him know.
Scovil allegedly contacted Alves again on June 8, 2020, and informed her that “he believed he was being followed by law enforcement, and asked her to look into it. She conferred with a colleague who confirmed to Alves that she believed Scovil’s boss, Lucas Sirois, was under federal investigation.
On July 21, 2020, FBI agents interviewed Alves about her contact with Scovil. She admitted she had informed Scovil about the law enforcement investigation. Following her interview with the FBI, Alves deleted the text messages she sent to and received from Scovil on her cellphone.
Alves, a single mother of three boys, reached the rank of sergeant when she served in the U.S. Army overseas and was a well-decorated soldier receiving several medals and ribbons among other recognition. She also put herself through college while serving in the military.
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