ANSON, Maine — On Tuesday, August 4, a sizable crowd gathered at the town office in the small town of Anson. At the front of the crowd, a sheriff shouts, "Going once, going twice." It's an auction, albeit an unusual one.
The town decided to conduct a "sheriff's sale" to seek restitution by buying and selling properties that its former tax collector, Claudia Viles, owned. In 2015, she was convicted of embezzling more than half of a million dollars. She was sentenced two years later to five years in prison after a 43 year career as treasurer, secretary, and tax collector.
"I decided to come out because I was looking for some cheap properties," said Kim Roy, a bidder who won two of the seven properties up for bid Tuesday. "I want to get my foot in that industry, and this was a good place to start I thought."
Roy says she was born and raised in Anson and did remember hearing about the scandal -- but to her, it's perhaps a bit more complicated.
"I don’t know to this day if I still believe it’s true," Roy admitted.
Town officials say Viles' actions caused taxes to go up, town projects to be put off, and citizens to distrust the local government. Still, officials say the auction on Tuesday was a tough situation.
"There's nothing real positive that comes out of taking anyone's property," Tammy Murray, the administrative assistant for the town, told NEWS CENTER Maine. She came on board in the midst of the investigation into Viles in 2015 and says she is hoping for some kind of closure.
"This case has been out in the media for a while, and this is the tail-end of it," Murray expressed. "It's been since 2015 this has been going on, so I think people just want resolution; so does the town, at this point."
Tuesday's auction was the latest step in ending this chapter. Chief Deputy Sheriff Mike Mitchell of the Somerset County's Sheriff's Office was the auctioneer. He says he has never taken part in a "sheriff's sale" and knows that not everyone was pleased it was happening.
"There are several residents that I know right here in the town of Anson that are divided on whether or not the sheriff’s sale should have even taken place," Mitchell told NEWS CENTER Maine. "However, this is something the town wanted to do, and the town had a right to do that -- and the taxpayers, some of them wanted to get the restitution."
The following properties were up for sale and sold for the following amounts:
- Kennebec River Road in Embden: $15,000 (town)
- 211 Ellis Road in Embden, lot 45: $11,000 (private citizen)
- 211 Ellis Road in Embden, lot 41: $16,000 (private citizen)
- 34 Hall Street in Anson, lot 35: $25,000 (town)
- 3 Hall Street in Anson, lot 41: $25,000 (town)
- 65 Elm Street in Anson, lot 27: $90,000 (town)
- Off Elm Street in Anson, lot 38A (private citizen)
Murray explained to NEWS CENTER Maine that the town had to act "commercially reasonable", so it did not spend any taxpayers' money on its bids. Those lots will be sold at a later date.