ROCKLAND — A South Thomaston man and his grandmother both pleaded guilty to the charges of providing alcohol to two female teenagers who were later put on life support for alcohol poisoning.

Ryan Newbert, 20, was charged by Rockland Police on two counts of furnishing liquor to minors and two counts of aggravated unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs from an incident that occurred February 29. He made his initial court appearance April 20 in Knox County Unified Court and then pleaded guilty to the charges in July.

Newbert’s grandmother, Brenda Shepard, 64, of Rockland, pleaded guilty to two counts of furnishing liquor to minors Oct. 11 in Knox County Unified Court.

Both Newbert and Shepard were placed on deferred dispositions for one year as part of their guilty pleas. If they comply with all of the conditions of their deferred dispositions, the felony crimes will be reduced to misdeameanors, according to the court documents.

The conditions of the deferred disposition include not using or possessing any alcohol or illegal drugs, random searches, and no contact with the victims. Additionally, they both will undergo substance abuse and mental health counseling and participate with the Restorative Justice Project.

If all of the conditions are successfully met with the deferred disposition for the next twelve months, Newbert will receive a sentence of 364 days in jail with all but five months suspended and one year of probation. Shepard will receive a sentence of 364 days in jail with all but 90 days suspended and one year of probation.

If they fail to meet the terms of their individual deferred dispositions, both could face up to five years in prison according to the Maine laws for furnishing liquor to minors.

According to the court documents, Officer William Smith responded to a call Feb. 29 about a man witnessing what appeared to be an unconscious female “being stuffed into a car” near a Dunkin Donuts before it sped off traveling northbound on Main Street in Rockland. Smith located and stopped the vehicle on Camden Street and immediately noticed two unconscious females in the back seat. Rockland EMS transported the girls to Pen Bay Medical Center where they were put on life support before being flown via LifeFlight to Maine Medical Center in Portland. 

On March 1, Detective Joel Neal interviewed the victims at Maine Medical. They told Neal that they went to Newbert’s apartment to “hang out” and both snorted a crushed lorazapam which he later admitted to police that he provided to the girls, according to the police affidavit. 

Newbert, then 19, then spoke to his grandmother, Shepard, about purchasing the alcohol. A store video confirmed that Newbert and Shepard entered the store together where he selected the half-gallon of vodka and she made the purchase. 

The girls told Neal they were drinking vodka with Newbert and ended up at Lucia Beach State Park in Owls Head. They said they continued drinking the vodka and do not remember anything after that, according to the police affidavit. 

When Neal interviewed Shepard, she initially denied being involved in the incident, but quickly changed her story and admitted that she purchased the alcohol with Newbert, according to the police affidavit. 

Newbert had checked himself into a rehabilitation program shortly after the incident and police were unable to communicate with him during that time, said the court documents. When police interviewed Newbert April 18, he admitted to providing the alcohol and lorazapam for the girls. Newbert was then arrested by police and transported to the Knox County Jail. 

Sgt. Don Finnegan said in an earlier press release in Feb. that both victims were successfully treated and were doing well. 

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com.