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March 16, 2010

Home-invasion suspect pleads not guilty

BY MATTHEW STONE Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- One of the two men accused in a May 2008 Pittston home invasion pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 14 charges.

INNOCENT PLEAS: Daniel Fortune speaks to his attorney, Pamela Ames, during an appearance Tuesday at Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta to enter not guilty pleas to 14 charges related to a May 2008 home invasion in Pittston. Fortune, 21, responded to two new counts of elevated aggravated assault in addition to 12 charges previously lodged against him.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy

Daniel L. Fortune, 21, of Augusta pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Fortune, handcuffed and chained at the ankles, wore a dark green jail uniform during court proceedings Tuesday. He stood by his attorney, Pamela Ames, as Justice John Nivison read each charge.

The two elevated aggravated assault charges were new accusations a Kennebec County grand jury included in an indictment earlier this month.

The Pittston home invasion on May 27, 2008, left former Rep. William Guerrette and his daughter, Nicole, critically injured by machete attacks.

Fortune's charges were also connected to a November 2007 theft in the Guerrette home on Stoney Acres Road when $100,000 in cash and historic currency was stolen.

Fortune is facing charges along with his foster brother, Leo R. Hylton, 18, who reportedly confessed to wielding the machete during the early-morning attack.

Fortune will remain in jail, with bail remaining at $1 million. His trial will likely take place in June.

"A lot depends on what Mr. Hylton's status with the case is," Pamela Ames, Fortune's attorney, told the judge.

Hylton is expected to go before the court in the coming weeks for pretrial proceedings. Hylton, who is being held at Cumberland County Jail, has pleaded not guilty to charges implicating him in the home invasion.

According to Ames, Hylton told police that Fortune remained in the doorway of the Guerrette home on May 27 and did not participate in the attack.

Guerrette spent eight weeks in the hospital after the attack. His daughter Nicole, then 10 years old, spent six weeks in a Portland hospital.

From her hospital bed, she watched her fifth-grade Pittston Consolidated School class' graduation ceremony on a laptop computer via Web camera.

Fortune pleaded not guilty Tuesday to:

* one count of theft;

* one count of failure to appear in court on May 9, 2008;

* two counts of violating the conditions of his release following the November 2007 theft incident;

* four counts of aggravated attempted murder;

* one count of attempted murder;

* two counts of elevated aggravated assault;

* one count of robbery;

* one count of burglary; and

* one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com

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