She Said, She Said. Corruption Exposed.

She Said - She Said

Reveals Corruption at Maine State Police

By Joshua Gray, PI from Boston, Mass

On a mid-June afternoon in Portland Maine, Katherine Biermann was returning home with her son to continue celebrating his birthday. She suggested to her friend Nancy Barone they play a board game and even offered her a beverage of Orange Juice. Nancy, who was staying with Biermann as a guest, was not in a very good mood and threw the beverage to the floor. A conflict then ensued. According to Biermann’s statement to the Portland Police, Barone attacked her, pinned her to the ground and started yelling for people to call the police. Barone’s statement claimed the exact opposite. This was a case of she said, she said. When the Portland police arrived Barone refused to answer the door and insisted that Biermann do it. After a short investigation the Portland police decided to arrest Biermann and charge her with Domestic Assault.

After the humiliating experience of being arrested and spending a night is lockup, Katherine Biermann pulled herself together and began the process of proving her innocence. To complicate matter’s Biermann was a Licensed Private Investigator who knew that a conviction of assault would most likely result in the suspension or revocation of her PI license. Nancy Barone knew this as well and decided to pour salt on her “friend’s” wounds and reported the arrest to Elizabeth Pepper of the Maine State Police special licensing division. Biermann remained optimistic, believing that she did nothing wrong and trusting in the justice system. It was only a matter of weeks before Nancy Barone changed her story and the charges were finally dropped in late October of 2012. There was some indication that Barone may be mentally unstable. Katherine Biermann’s summer nightmare had come to an end and she was vindicated of all wrongdoing. Little did she know that her nightmare was only beginning and a real life horror was about to unfold.

The Maine State Police did not accept the decision of the system and decided that Katherine Biermann was guilty of assault. They ignored the rule of law and became Judge, Jury and Executioner.  Maine State Police Sgt. Michael Zabarsky, during a phone conversation with Nancy Barone, stated very clearly they were not going to renew Biermann’s Private Investigator License. Barone then boasted repeatedly to Biermann what Sgt. Zabarsky had told her. Biermann retreated into depression and embarrassment and felt the pressure of the world weighing down on her. She had done nothing wrong and could not understand why her license would not be renewed.

Katherine Biermann’s Private Investigation career began in the late 1980’s. She slowly built up a private investigation practice working with lawyers, insurance companies and anyone who would give her work. Her story is similar to many Americans who get up every morning and work hard to achieve the American Dream. By 2012 she had been in the industry for over twenty years and had a loyal client base and a steady income of more than $50,000 a year. Biermann loved what she did and worked hard for her clients. She was a good investigator that planned to remain in business for many years to come. But all that changed when several corrupt Maine State Police troopers decided to violate her Constitutional, Civil and Human rights.

These corrupt troopers are Sgt. Michael Zabarsky, Det. David Pelletier and Lt. Scott Ireland. They did not care that charges were dismissed, they did not care about due process or constitutional rights. It would have been so easy for them to just follow the law, however they intentionally and knowingly decided to put her out of business. They prepared the case to deny her renewal application and wrote in their report “If Biermann renewed her Professional Investigators License, the alleged conduct may provide grounds to deny her application for a Professional Investigator License and /or initiate a complaint to deny/suspend/revoke…” This quote was taken from a report written in February of 2013. This was after the charges were dropped and she was vindicated of all wrongdoing. So you have to ask, how could an innocent person be in jeopardy of having their professional license taken away from them?

Sgt. Zabarsky, Det. Pelletier and Lt. Ireland do not believe in the Constitution. They do not believe that you are innocent until proven guilty, they do not believe in the Justice system. They believe themselves to be Judge, Jury and Executioner and they readied a case to deny Katherine Biermann of her rights. Rather than subject herself to further embarrassment and possibly cause her story to end up in the news, Biermann felt pressured to not even submit a renewal application for her Private Investigator License. She was aware they had decided to not renew and did not want to have a denial on her record. These corrupt and lawless troopers had intimidated a successful female Private Investigator out of business and over $50,000 in annual income. Why did they do it?

The career of Lt. Scott Ireland, Det. David Pelletier and Sgt. Michael Zabarsky shows a history of corruption. There were internal affairs investigations, disciplinary actions, and a history of intimidating other citizens. These three troopers should have been fired from the Maine State Police a long time ago. However, laws designed to shield public officials from prosecution, and the lack of a citizen oversight committee for Maine Police corruption allegations. Have protected them and they have managed to keep their jobs and even been promoted. But the corruption may go even further. There is a possible illegal and unethical connection between Lt. Scott Ireland and Michael Harrington who owns one of the largest PI companies in Maine. Recently, Lt. Ireland nominated Mr. Harrington, a private citizen, to be the chairman of an oversight committee that regulates the PI industry in Maine. This basically means that Michael Harrington now regulates himself in a blatant display of political corruption facilitated by Lt Ireland. 

I had a conversation with Katherine Biermann in August of 2016 and discussed all that happened to her. She was still very emotional and upset and confirmed the reason for not renewing her license was pressure from the “Sargent at the State Police”. I asked her specifically if she did work for Mr. Harrington and she replied that she did not remember, however did not believe she ever did. This was consistent with my theory that Mr. Harrington may be using his connection with Lt Scott Ireland to put competition out of business. I also learned that Biermann was not former law enforcement. It is well known that the majority of PI’s are former law enforcement and the Maine State Police will find any reason to deny a PI license to non-law enforcement. It seems obvious that Biermann was competition to the man who Lt Ireland appointment to the oversight committee, and she did not meet “good ole boy’ standards to even be a PI in the first place.

I learned about Biermann’s story through a freedom of information request that I submitted to the Maine State Police. Her story sent chills down my spine as I researched it and later spoke with her on the phone. I went through something similar and had my rights violated by the exact same troopers. Our stories consisted of the same ingredients; false charge, cased dismissed and these dirty cops ignoring the law. I posted my story on Facebook, YouTube and twitter and it was picked up by online blogs and shared around social media. Based on the posts, multiple other victims of the Maine State Police and these exact same troopers came forward. Private Investigator Bob Doyon of Maine was one of the people who reached out to me and his story was the same. He told me how these same troopers violated his rights. His story consisted of false allegations and these same dirty cops not following the law. In total 16 people have contacted me or I have learned about, three are now known to the public. Sixteen victims of corrupt and dirty cops. Sixteen people who had their lives interrupted for no reason. When I wrote the first article about my case, I asked the question ‘I wonder how many other victims there are?’ I never expected it would be so many. 

Katherine Biermann still lives in Portland and is now a grandmother. She manages to survive on the small checks from social security and has remained unemployed for over two years. Due to the poor job market she has found it difficult to start over. She was a Private Investigator for most of her adult life and the thought of doing anything else is depressing. Biermann is the victim of dirty cops who decided to not follow the law. They decided to pick the winners and losers. The Maine State Police, by intimidating her to not renew her license and making it clear that even if she did, they would deny it, ruined Katherine Biermann’s professional career. Biermann did not want her story to go public and I debated for a long time whether to write this article. However, since I learned her story through a freedom of information request of publicly available records, I felt her story needed to be told. This corruption must end.

Corruption Exposed at Maine State Police

By Joshua Gray, PI from Boston, MA

In 2011 a Massachusetts Private Investigator came to Maine to do training with a licensed Maine Private Investigator. The Massachusetts PI arrived at the case early and spent 40 minutes on the assignment by himself. The video footage that was obtained led to an Insurance fraud case against a Maine resident who was committing fraud. The investigator then applied for a Maine PI License.

In 2013 and then again in 2014 another Massachusetts PI company sent two unlicensed investigators to illegally work assignments. They spent four days and 33.5 hours conducting surveillance and obtaining video footage. They made no effort to obtain a valid Maine PI License.

One of these PI’s was charged with a crime and went through a three year legal process, the others were not charged. They all cooperated fully with the Maine State Police Investigation. Can you guess who was charged with a crime and who was not?

Most likely you guessed wrong! The first investigator was charged with working in Maine without a valid PI licensed, went through a three year court process, was vindicated when the case against him was dismissed and then had his Maine PI license application denied in retaliation for winning in court. The other PI’s were not charged. The first investigator was making every effort to follow all Maine State Laws. The other PI’s were blatantly ignoring Maine PI Laws. The Maine State Police troopers who investigated each case were the exact same people. Their names are Lt. Scott Ireland, Det. David Pelletier and Sgt. Michael Johnston. These men elevated themselves to Judge, Jury and Executioner in both cases and ignored the constitutional judicial process. The worst part about it, these troopers have a history of misapplying the law, frivolous investigations and Internal Affairs trouble.

The Private Investigator in the first case was me. My name in Joshua Gray and I have been a private investigator for over a decade. I have held PI licenses in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and New Jersey. I am known to have a high level of success with surveillance assignments and have earned awards and compliments from many in the industry. I have thousands of followers on social media and often contacted by other PI’s for advice. I’ve built up a successful practice and worked hard to be placed on the ‘approved vendors list’ of some large Insurance companies. When I started receiving more assignments than I could handle myself, I would sub-contract them to local investigators. If the PI did not work the assignments according to my high standards, I would offer to go on a case with them and give them pointers. That is what I was doing in 2011 when I came to Maine. The licensed Maine PI that I was meeting was late and I ended up spending 40 minutes on the case by myself.

The Massachusetts PI who worked one of the other cases was Dylan McLoud who came to Maine on June 23 through June 24, 2014 specifically to illegally work a case without a valid PI License. Mr. McLoud worked the case for a total of nineteen and a half (19.5) hours, obtained some video footage of a Maine resident and produced a surveillance report with his findings. His direct supervisor, James (Jim) Collins, of East Coast Investigative Services, Inc. has been in the industry for over 30 years and is a former Federal Drug Enforcement Administration officer. Mr. Collins is well connected in the Massachusetts political scene and is an executive board member of the Massachusetts Private Detectives Association and Legislative committee. Mr. Collins claims to have been involved in political lobbying efforts that have “raised the standards in the Private Investigation profession.” Both Dylan McLoud and Jim Collins knew that it was illegal to work in Maine without a valid PI license and yet they did it anyway. A second investigator from East Coast Investigative Services came to Maine in October of 2013 and conducted 14 hours of surveillance over a two day period. He is also not licensed in Maine.

Licensed Maine Investigator Bob Doyon became aware of this illegal activity in September of 2015 and performed his civic duty by making the Maine State Police aware. He did this at significant risk to himself and his livelihood. Mr. Doyon’s employer (who I have chosen to not name) hired Jim Collins as a sub-contractor and was potentially also in trouble as its illegal to hire an unlicensed company to perform PI work in Maine. Reporting your own employer for possible wrongdoing takes a great deal of courage, but was the right thing to do. Mr. Doyon presented the State Police Investigators with evidence to support Mr. McLouds Surveillance on the aforementioned dates and other information that clearly showed wrongdoing. It was a cut and dry case of working in Maine without a PI License. 

On January 5, 2016, Mr Doyon learned Maine State Police had concluded the investigation and had decided to not charge either Mr. McLoud or Mr. Collins with a crime, however chose to issue them a warning. In a conversation with Mr. Doyon, Det. Pelletier stated “Does everyone who violates the law deserves to be charged”. Later when Mr. Doyon was on a conference call with Lt. Scott Ireland, Det. David Pelletier and Sgt. Michael Johnston, Sgt. Johnston told him they decided to not file criminal charges due to Mr. Collins and Mr. McLoud’s cooperation with the investigation.

This news was understandably confusing to Mr. Doyon as just a few years ago, he was under investigation by the same troopers for obtaining video footage from a camouflage position. Mr. Doyon was also aware of my (Joshua Gray) case where they filed charges against me for coming to Maine to do training with a PI. He also knew of other cases where criminal charges were filed that had less evidence. It made no sense that the State Police would not file charges against Mr. McLoud and Mr. Collins. In my experience when a government worker does something that does not make sense, there is a good chance of corruption. We may be able to dismiss this possibility if that was the only time they made a questionable decision. However in the case of Lt. Scott Ireland, Det. David Pelletier and Sgt. Michael Johnston, there is a history of questionable decisions.

Lt. Scott Ireland and Det. David Pelletier where recently under an Internal Affairs investigation where they were both caught lying to Lt. Anna Love of Maine State Police Internal Affairs. I have found unethical connections between Lt. Ireland and Michael Harrington, owner of Merrill’s Investigations & Security, one of the largest PI firms in Maine. In Fact Lt. Ireland nominated Mr. Harrington to be the chairman of the Private Investigator oversight board in Maine. Meaning that Mr. Harrington was on an oversight board that regulates himself, an example of blatant corruption they are not even trying to hide. Perhaps the reason they commit corruption so openly, is because Maine State Police do not have a citizen oversight committee to hold them accountable. The person in the Attorney General’s office who is responsible for State Police Oversight is Brian MacMaster, who is friends with Lt. Scott Ireland and has a lake house next to Mr. Michael Harrington. I could document even more corruption, however in the interest of time, I will simply say, there is no doubt in my mind that Lt. Ireland, Det. Pelletier, Sgt, Johnston and Mr. Harrington are corrupt and need to be exposed.

Lt. Scott Ireland and his gang of corrupt troopers have decided they are Judge, Jury and Executioner. In my case they decided I was guilty despite Judge Jeffery Hjelm dismissing the charges against me. In Mr. Bob Doyon’s case, they decided he was guilty despite no supporting evidence to prove their case. In Mr. Dylan McLoud’s case, they decided he was innocent despite having overwhelming evidence of his and Mr. Jim Collin’s guilt. The only way to explain this seemingly illogical pattern is when you accept they are corrupt. When you look at this case through the eyes of corrupt political connections, it makes perfect sense. Keep in mind that Mr. Jim Collins is very politically connected in Massachusetts. It only makes sense that some politician in Massachusetts pressured some politician in Maine who told Lt. Ireland to not prosecute. Good police look at the law as black and white, you’re either guilty or innocent, and apply that philosophy fairly and evenly. Corrupt police don’t care about the law, the constitution or the judicial process and apply the law based on political pressures and influence. It’s overwhelmingly obvious where Lt. Scott Ireland, Det. David Pelletier and Sgt. Michael Johnston fall.

When I was going through the Maine Justice system, it was often relayed to me that Maine State Police were trying to crack down on out of state companies coming to Maine to work cases. They were concerned that it would take work away from duly licensed Maine Investigators. However when they had the chance to prosecute a company that was clearly sending unlicensed Investigators to Maine, they decided to let them go. When I came to Maine to do training with a licensed Investigator who I was giving work to, they decided to come after me with everything they had. Does that sound fair to any rational person! However after Justice Jeffrey Hjelm dismissed the charges, they retaliated against me by contacting my largest client and telling them I was under an ‘ongoing investigation’. This caused me to lose that client. That was not enough damage to me, they also denied my PI application in Maine. They seemed to stop a nothing to make sure that I could not be licensed in Maine when I did nothing wrong, however would not even prosecute some investigators that were clearly breaking Maine PI Laws. It is infuriating and completely unfair. There is a special place in Hell for people like Lt. Scott W Ireland, Det. David Pelletier and Sgt. Michael Johnston.