Jury awards ex-Maine trooper $300,000 in whistleblower case

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A jury in Maine has awarded a former state trooper $300,000 after determining the state police wrongly retaliated when he raised concerns about its intelligence gathering work. George Loder filed a whistleblower lawsuit claiming he was reassigned and then denied a transfer after he took his concerns about the Maine Intelligence Analysis Center to his superiors. Loder said the center had gathered intelligence on power line protesters, gun buyers and others who had committed no crime. The Bangor Daily News reported the jury deliberated for more than five hours Friday before finding in Loder’s favor. State police had defended the intelligence work and denied that any retaliation occurred.