Portland man will be resentenced again in Riverton Park shooting
Abdihamit Ali appears in court for his initial sentencing in a Riverton Park shooting in August 2023. Ali will be resentenced again after Maine's highest court ruled his first resentencing was improper. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
A Portland man who was convicted of shooting a woman at a housing complex in 2022 will be resentenced again after a decision from Maine’s highest court that his first resentencing was improper.
Abdihamit Ali, 26, was sentenced to seven years in prison in September 2023.
Ali was convicted after a jury trial for shooting and injuring a 20-year-old woman in Riverton Park, as well as shooting bullets through the walls of a 4-year-old boy’s nearby bedroom. He was found guilty of elevated aggravated assault, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and criminal mischief.
Ali appealed the sentencing decision, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court agreed in March 2025 that the counts of elevated aggravated assault and reckless conduct should be merged and ordered him to be resentenced.
Related
Maine supreme court says Portland man must be resentenced in Riverton Park shooting
But following that decision, the court did not follow the correct sentencing procedure, according to a recent ruling by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
“Although the court commended Ali for his progress and credited his expressions of remorse, it declined to consider Ali’s conduct while incarcerated or to otherwise engage in a new sentencing analysis,” the justices wrote in their decision Tuesday.
Advertisement
Daniel Wentworth, Ali’s attorney, said during oral arguments in June that Ali and his counsel were shocked when a new sentence was not considered. At the same argument hearing, Cumberland County Assistant District Attorney Kristen Hughes asked the justices to uphold Ali’s original sentence.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the court must hold a new sentencing hearing for Ali. That doesn’t necessarily mean he will receive a lesser sentence, according to the decision.
Related
Riverton Park family recounts shooting that left bullet hole in child’s bedroom
“We leave to the sentencing court the determination of what weight, if any, to give to information concerning Ali’s conduct while in prison, and we express no opinion as to whether the court’s assessment of that information will result in a sentence different from that previously imposed,” the decision read.
The sentencing hearing has not been scheduled yet, Wentworth said in an email Tuesday.
Copy the Story Link
Tagged: cumberland county maine, maine crime, maine supreme judicial court
Morgan covers breaking news and public safety for the Portland Press Herald. Before moving to Maine in 2024, she reported for Michigan State University's student-run publication, as well as the Indianapolis. More by Morgan Womack
