A Maine man’s 32-page rap sheet has helped guarantee he will get at least 37 years in federal prison for kidnapping and raping a 20-year-old woman near Kinzua Dam in 2010.
Mike Beaulieu, 37, of Anson, Maine, pleaded guilty to two felonies on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Erie, which has jurisdiction because the rape and kidnapping occurred in the Allegheny National Forest, in Warren County.
Beaulieu’s prior record is so lengthy that his criminal-history score is the highest possible in the federal court system. That score, as well as the violent nature of his crimes, boosted his possible sentence to 37 years to life, according to the federal sentencing guidelines detailed in court. His base sentence was seven years to life.
U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin accepted the plea and set sentencing for July 26. Beaulieu, who said he suffers from a bipolar disorder, is incarcerated.
When he was charged in the rape in mid-August 2010, Beaulieu’s rap sheet in Maine was 32 pages long, and included convictions for crimes such as rape, arson, escape and domestic-violence assault, according to a report in the Bangor Daily News. Beaulieu is from Anson, about 65 miles west of Bangor.
The crimes on the rap sheet dated back to 1994, when Beaulieu was 19 years old, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Beaulieu, indicted in 2010, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. He also admitted to raping the woman and tying up and gagging her 23-year-old boyfriend with rope and duct tape. Those allegations were incorporated into the two charges he pleaded guilty to, as part of a plea deal.
The couple had been visiting the Kinzua Point Information Center to go on a picnic when Beaulieu confronted them with a .45-caliber Kimber handgun on Aug. 3, 2010, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Piccinini said.
He said Beaulieu told the woman that he was “going to kill himself and was going to rape someone before he died.”
Beaulieu let the woman go after raping her, and she followed the sounds of traffic to find a road, flag down a motorist and contact police, Piccinini said. He said the woman said the rapist’s car had Maine plates, and that police in Maine used a composite drawing to identify Beaulieu as the suspect.
Police found him on Aug. 10, 2010, after the chief in Fort Kent, Maine, spotted his car near the St. John River, part of the U.S.-Canadian border.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested Beaulieu near the border, in New Brunswick, Piccinini said in court. He said Beaulieu crossed the river in a canoe. Investigators with the U.S. Forest Service, the Pennsylvania State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service also worked on the case.
© 2012 the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.)
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Excecution is the only answer for this scum!
32 page list of criminal history? Hey maine, if you really want to trim our budget, impose the death penalty on this scum.
How is Maine going to impose the death penalty on this guy?
The fact is it cost way more money to have someone on death row than life in prison. How about letting the man go in the some remote place and telling the family and local hunters you will not be able to be back for hours. Do not ask do not tell.
This guy deserves the most cruel and unusual of punishment. His crimes are extremely severe at the least. I truly wish this man the worst of luck on the inside. I think it is his turn to see what rape feels like.
Hmmm… just turn him loose in the woods and tell him to “Oink like a piggy”!!!
death by lethal injection quick fast next!!!!
Good thing we spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year locking up non-violent pot-smokers, while we let out violent sexual predators with 32 page rap sheets. Nice going justice system.
My thoughts also. This guy should have never been out. Just think we only know few of his offenses. I also like the idea of community justice. String em up in the middle of town and let the message be given and seen.
amen to that…
What a waste of oxygen. Too many light sentences (and maybe horror movies) made this guy think he was invincible to the law and he could play out his ultimate fantasy. Now he can live that fantasy world in prison.
At what point, in this guys extensive history of rehabilitation, does the powers that be say you know this isn’t working .
whats the odds that maybe the state should of put this man away the first 100 times!seems to me that he was let out way too many times before this and they could of saved some poor womans life and dignity if they would of put him where he belonged in the first place.
He will be out again and he will rape again many, many years from now. So sad. Lucky they got him this time. The only reason they actually got him was that he was stupid enough to commit the crime outside of Maine. Sad but true. In Maine all he has to say is that she gave her consent and unless she is 1/2 dead in a ditch, he usually walks. Seldom even with DNA, can they prove rape if he says she consented. Unless, there is a huge amount of evidence, and that has to be huge, like witnesses. Bruises don’t count if he says she likes it rough and asked me to give those to her. Maine doesn’t have the death penalty and its difficult to prove rape that is why he was out on the streets. He was accused many, many times before, but it NEVER stuck, because it happened in Maine. Disclaimer, I’m sure there are towns in Maine that believe the women and go after the perps and get convictions. I’m sure certain counties do better convicting rapes then others. I’m sure there are other States that struggle with rape crimes as well. Working with Rape advocates, I have heard the numbers of rapes in this county and the numbers that are actually convicted, makes me vomit. People wonder why my children can’t bike, walk or be children. I know what is lurking on those streets, its not pretty.
I can also say I have seen police officers not believe the victim. I have also seen recently a police officer believe the victim, he had tears in his eyes. He told me point blank, I can’t put her through what a court would put her thru. There just isn’t enough evidence for a conviction. He stated that her story was solid and that he had been in his field over 20 years and was certain that the rapist would strike again. He said, he had gone to trial before with these cases and they don’t hold up. Juries today are looking for CSI material to put a man away. So, I must say I have seen officers doing their jobs and taking women seriously who had their hands tied by the system.
I hope his lengthy sentence will help the victim and her boyfriend in their long journey of healing.
May the victims get closure and continue to heal. The best revenge towards others negativity, is for one to live well.