AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A former Maine corrections officer has pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct with a firearm stemming from an incident in which a fellow trainee was shot inside a pickup truck.
Twenty-five-year-old Matthew Benger was placed on deferred disposition for a year and will be allowed to withdraw that plea if he meets certain conditions. The incident happened when Benger, Matthew Morrison and Cody Gillis were in Gillis’ truck in a police academy complex parking lot.
The Portland Press Herald reports Benger was handling a gun owned by Gillis when it fired, striking Morrison in the knee. Morrison wrote he hoped to continue his career with the sheriff’s office. He was in court Monday during an appearance in which he said little and walked with a limp.
