By Lindsey Sablan
The Denver Channel
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Lawyers defending a man who impersonated a firefighter during the High Park Fire asked for mercy, but a judge decided Michael Maher needed to be held responsible for his actions. Maher was sentenced Thursday to 42 days in jail, 150 hours of community service and 18 months of probation for impersonating a public servant and trespassing during that fire.
When Maher was arrested at the High Park Fire on June 18, 2012, four portable radios were found inside his truck, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said. One of the radios had allegedly been stolen from the Lower North Fork Fire, during which Maher also allegedly impersonated a firefighter.
During the High Park fire, Maher was working with Rist Canyon Firefighters. He wore a uniform and used stolen government license plates on his truck to get access behind the fire lines. Firefighters became suspicious of the 31 year old after the chief approached him asking for proper credentials, which he did not have. He was arrested later that night at a Laporte bar.
Full story: Firefighter impersonator Michael Maher sentenced to 42 days in jail for High Park Fire case