FILE PHOTO — Peggy Maxwell makes her first appearance in a theft case first charged in 2001 in Lewis County Superior Court.
A woman brought to trial this year on a first-degree theft case dating back to 2001 was found not guilty after a jury trial last month, according to court records.
Peggy L. Maxwell, then 58, was charged in August with first-degree theft after being arrested on a warrant in the case.
According to court documents, in May 1998, a man representing the “Civil Rights Defense League” talked with Maxwell about needing the services of an attorney.
Maxwell allegedly told the man she was affiliated with an attorney and could secure that attorney’s services for a $10,000 retainer.
The man reported that he paid Maxwell the money, but it never got to an attorney.
The case went to trial in Lewis County in February, and a jury voted Feb. 21 to acquit Maxwell on the charge.
