Six months after his initial arrest, Knight took to the stand at Kennebec County Superior Court onOctober 28, 2013. He pleaded guilty to his 13 charges of theft and burglary. For this, he was given a jail sentence of seven months, which he went on to serve. Much of the sentence, it turns out, he had already served since he was taken into custody. In order to avoid getting a seven-year sentence, he also had to meet with a judge each week on Monday, find work or start taking classes of some sort.
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Additionally, he would have to pay his victims a total of $1,500 in restitution. He’d also have to attend a program for those struggling with mental health problems and endure three years of probation. He also had to totally abstain from alcohol.
The judge who took on the case, Nancy Mills, had something of a soft spot for the great Mountain Man, this “last true hermit” of a man. At the very least, she didn’t think he was capable of harming anyone and was unlikely to commit any further serious crimes. Therefore, he got off with a much lighter sentence than others who were charged with 13 whole counts of burglary and theft. Many agreed that he didn’t deserve to waste away in jail.
Kennebec Journal
A couple months and a hefty fee would suffice. Judge Mills sensed that something good could come from all of this but was it really enough to get Knight to finally turn his life around and rejoin the outside world again?
After being released from jail, Knight agreed to meet with Judge Nancy Mills every Monday as promised in his court hearing and he swore to abstain from alcohol. Apparently he was incredibly committed to following these orders, something he would not have dared do in his younger years when he fought convention and simply did whatever he pleased without thinking of others. It was unbelievable the progress this man, who had no human contact for so long, could make such great strides.
Portland Press Herald
He got his life back on track. Reconnecting with his long-lost family while he was in jail, their relationship began to finally heal, even though he abandoned them so long ago. His brother even offered him a job, which he took. Would all these positive changes take hold for good?
At the time of his disappearance, nobody suspected that Knight was gone indefinitely. In fact, his parents never even bothered to report him as missing.
Kennebec Journal
They figured that he’d be back when he was ready. He just went on a little adventure, for himself. When it became clear that he was gone, they refused to believe the worst. He was out there, alive and well. Of that they were certain. And they were correct.
When you live in isolation, all you have is your own mind. You become so use to silences that when it comes time to speak over them, you stutter. You can’t imagine your words filling the air.
GQ Magazine
In fact, in the 27 years he had been away, Knight had never spoken a word to a soul, except on one rare occasion. He greeted a hiker with a small “hi.” Naturally, then, learning how to make conversation was not easy for Knight.
