Hello.  My name is Peter Galeno.  I am currently serving a 30 day sentence in the York County Jail in Alfred, ME on a civil contempt conviction.  I am in jail and have not had legal representation; I have not had any offered to me either.

I pay my ex-wife $1083 per month in child support.  I am also court ordered to pay $500/month in spousal support on a marriage that lasted only 9 years, $60/week in back spousal support, and I am  required to pay off all of the marital debt.  My monthly obligation to my ex-wife is $1843, not including the marital debt.  My yearly obligation is $22,116.

I am a corrections officer and my adjusted gross income on my 2010 taxes was 34,000.  I was taken out of work for situational depression for three months due to my dire circumstances as the result of my divorce.  When I returned to work, I was unable to work overtime at the county jail because it is no longer readily available.  My weekly take home pay after taxes is $540.  $250 is withheld immediately for child support, which leaves me with $294 per week.  That is $1274 per month.  Of this, I spend $200 on groceries, $500 on rent, and $400 in gas per month.  I have a cell phone bill of $50.  This leaves me with $74 per month to pay the additional $760 the court has ordered me to pay.

All of this information has been presented to the Springvale District Court. The Judge ruled that I can afford to pay at minimum the child support, the spousal support, and the spousal arrearages in full, and that I am just refusing to do so. The court also rules that because I share living expenses with my fiancee, I can afford to pay more. The $500 I pay in rent is less than half of our living expenses. We are not married. The court has no records pertaining to my fiancee’s financial situation. And yet they are using her income anyway to benefit my ex-wife. In the previous two rulings, the court has also grossly misstated evidence that has been in its possession.

My ex-wife has had legal representation throughout this process, and I am required to pay for it.  Every time I go into court, her lawyer gets most of my evidence thrown out on legal technicalities that I are just not aware of, not being familiar with the ins and outs of the legal process.  I cannot afford my own legal representation, but must pay for her to have it.  The court has also ruled that my ex-wife cannot be expected to work more than 20 hours per week because of child care issues, even though both children are in school full time.

As I stated above, I do not have legal representation.  I cannot afford it.  I am serving 30 days in the York County Jail without having legal representation.  I have not had a jury of my peers.  I was unable to work because of a diagnosed medical condition, and I am being punished for this disability.  In addition, I am a corrections officer at a different county jail facility.  These facilities share inmates, and I run the risk of being recognized while incarcerated; a risk that could cause me great physical harm.  It costs the State of Maine approximately $200/day to house me as an inmate.  In addition, it costs $216 for the State of Maine to pay an overtime employee to cover my position at a different corrections facility.  This will total $10320 of taxpayers’ dollars because of a grossly unfair, biased ruling of the Springvale District Court.

This website was created to appeal for help.  I cannot afford a lawyer to help me.    Pine Tree Legal has deemed that I make too much money.  The court refuses to consider the factual information it has been presented.  This is never going to end until I get legal representation.  This judicial system was developed by our founding fathers to prevent innocent people from going to jail.  The system has failed in my case.  Please contact me.   Please help us.