The former fire chief of the nonfunctioning Swartswood Volunteer Fire Department accused of attempting to sign over the title of a fire department vehicle in order to register it in his own name was accepted into the pre-trial intervention program.
Anthony Ashley, 53, of Stillwater appeared in front of Judge Thomas J. Critchley Monday, roughly three months after he was indicted for a fourth-degree crime of falsifying government records.
Since his indictment, a plea deal for non-custodial probation was offered by Assistant Prosecutor Brent Rafuse but Ashley's attorney, Shaun Russell, had countered the offer with the pre-trial intervention program.
Ashley was sentenced to two years in the program, which offers early rehabilitative services for first-time offenders in order to deter future behavior. Once the program is complete, typically between a year and three years, all charges against Ashley will be dismissed.