LOVELL — Maine State Police are investigating whether an essay contest in which a local woman gave away her historic inn broke the law, authorities said Tuesday. 

Owner Janice Sage awarded the Center Lovell Inn and Restaurant, a 210-year-old inn on 12 acres, to Rose and Prince Adams of New York on June 6. The Adamses run a restaurant on Saint John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Nonprofits can run essay contests because they’re considered games of skill rather than games of chance under state law, Maine State Police Sgt. Michael Johnston said Tuesday. 

Johnston, head of a special investigations unit, said the only aspect of the case under investigation is whether the contest was skill or chance, as games of chance need a license from the state that Sage did not have. Running an unlicensed game of chance is a Class D misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of $2,000 and 364 days in jail. 

Of about 7,200 entrants, he said they received 10 or 11 complaints that deceptive business tactics were used to advertise the contest. He thought the investigation would be wrapped up in a week or two. 

On June 16, a limited liability company was registered by Prince Roger Adams after a $175 fee was paid to the Secretary of State’s Office, according to online records. As of Tuesday afternoon, the transfer had not been recorded at the Oxford County Registry of Deeds.

The contest drew international media attention as the couple was picked from thousands of entrants who each submitted a 200-word essay and paid a $125 entry fee.  

Sage, who won the inn in a similar contest in 1993, hoped to receive 7,500 entries and raise $900,000 so she could retire. The property is estimated to be worth $905,000. 

However, state police are investigating because about a dozen unsuccessful contestants cried foul that the rules were deceptive and the selection process unfair.

Organized as the Center Lovell Contest Fair Practices Commission, the group, with about 100 Facebook members, has complained that Sage gave preference to a restaurant or inn owner, despite stating otherwise, and that Prince Adams, writing under the name Roger Adams, penned an e-book on crowdfunding.

Genneille Efram, a contestant from Oregon who is one of the administrators of the group’s Facebook page, said she became concerned when she read the winning essay, which she believes failed to meet contest rules. For example, she said, the essay didn’t conform to formal standards, contained grammatical and punctuation errors and lacked a thesis.  

Efram said she was less concerned about whether the winners owned a restaurant and wrote a book than about a lack of transparency throughout the process. 

For example, she said, several members have stated that their checks were cashed without ever receiving an entry number, and some entries were returned unopened, despite meeting the deadline.

She said there were discrepancies in the rules between the Facebook page and the contest website. While the website provided a post office box for submissions, the Facebook page also provided the hotel’s address so late entries could be mailed overnight.

At the inn Tuesday afternoon, Sage said she had been advised not to speak about the investigation and declined to comment. Attempts to reach the Adamses were unsuccessful. 

Efram hoped the investigation would lead to better standards. 

“I want full disclosure: the names of the judges, the number of entries received, everything pertinent to proving that this contest was conducted per the description and rules provided by the sponsors,” she said.  

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