Prosecutors have dismissed felony-level charges against four men who were accused in July 2024 of using hammers in a fight on Portland’s Forest Avenue.
Defense attorneys said they reached plea deals on Wednesday, following a judicial settlement conference with two assistant attorneys general.
In 2024, the state charged seven men who were accused of attacking members of a rival biker gang. Aaron Karp pleaded guilty in 2025 to manslaughter for shooting 54-year-old Susan McHugh during the fight. Karp said he acted in self-defense.
The other six men were originally charged with two counts each of elevated aggravated assault and one count each of criminal conspiracy. Four of them pleaded guilty to lower level charges and will serve brief sentences, according to their lawyers.
A spokesperson for the Maine attorney general’s office said prosecutors are not commenting on the cases.
Police alleged during a court hearing in September 2024 that the men who were affiliated with the motorcycle club Higher Calling conspired to retaliate against members of the FSU biker club following an altercation at a bar.
Detective Jeff Tully said in court at the time that the FSU members removed a Higher Calling vest from one of the men and took their gun, stripping the magazine and throwing it on a table. Tully said this was because the bar did not want people wearing their club colors. Police said they have surveillance footage of the Higher Calling members assaulting FSU members in a parking lot before Karp fired nine rounds, one bullet hitting McHugh.
Lawyers for the men said their clients, the reported Higher Calling members, had gone to the parking lot to retrieve stolen merchandise before a fight broke out.
“The evidence shows this was chaos,” said attorney David Bobrow.
His client Caleb Pelkey has not yet pleaded but is evaluating an offer that would lead to up to 30 days in jail for misdemeanor assault. Another man, Kristofer Haken, was not at Wednesday’s settlement conference and is being held out of state, lawyers for the other men said. Haken’s attorney could not immediately be reached.
The other men reached plea deals:
- Jason Keenan agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor-level counts of assault. He will pay $600 in fines and serve a 30-day jail sentence, according to his attorney, Vincent LoConte.
- James Moody also pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault and will serve 30 days and pay $600, according to his lawyer, Daniel Dubé.
- Kaleb Cidre was sentenced Wednesday to 28 days, time served, for misdemeanor assault and Nathan Walsh agreed to serve 48 hours in jail for the same, according to their attorneys. They will pay $300 in fines.
“These charges were extremely serious and I think the state knew they had an uphill battle proving them,” said LoConte.
LoConte said his client still denies the allegation that he brought a weapon to the Forest Avenue parking lot.
“They were trying to right a wrong,” said Walsh’s lawyer, Michael Whipple. “And I think that was recognized in the plea offers today.”
Cidre denies allegations that his conduct resulted in injuries to the victims, Troy McHugh and William Holmes, according to his defense attorney, Timothy Zerillo.
“This case represents a horrible tragedy, because someone died,” Zerillo said. “But lumping my client together with all of the actors was unfair.”
Troy McHugh and Holmes were both charged last year by the Cumberland County district attorney’s office with robbery. Holmes’ attorney, Rob Andrews, denied the allegations last year.
Andrews declined to comment on the plea deals Wednesday. A lawyer for Troy McHugh could not be reached.