ROCKPORT, Maine — Disgraced former charity president Russell “Rusty” Brace of Rockport is reporting to a federal prison in Pennsylvania Wednesday, where he will be spending up to four years.
The prison, located in Allenwood, has low-security, medium-security and high-security complexes on the grounds. The decision regarding which facility Brace is assigned to will be made after he reports to the complex.
Allenwood is located in central Pennsylvania, 565 miles from Brace’s hometown.
Brace, 82, who was sentenced on Oct. 9 to 48 months in prison, was scheduled to report to Allenwood at 2 p.m.
David Beneman, the federal defender in Maine, said that Brace will be eligible to have 47 days cut off his sentence for every year he serves. He also will be eligible to be released to a halfway house six months before the completion of his sentence, Beneman said.
Brace’s attorney Peter DeTroy said he expects that Brace will serve about 36 months and then, because of his age, will be sent straight home rather than to a halfway house.
Brace had two recent knee replacements. He also suffers from high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism, and he is pre-diabetic, according to medical documents presented to court.
The low-security facility at Allenwood holds 1,333 prisoners. The medium-security area holds 1,315 prisoners and the high-security section holds 946 people.
At the federal prison, inmates are required to wear either gray or white clothing that can be issued by the prison. There is a commissary for prisoners to make purchases. There also is a recreational facility.
Prisoners are required to get up at 6 a.m. Inmates are required to have work assignments, according to information on the Bureau of Prisons website. The work days run from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Brace pleaded guilty May 29 to one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution and two counts of tax fraud and making false statements in connection with the thefts of donations to United Mid-Coast Charities that began in 1999 and ended when he stepped down as president in August 2014.
The charity has recovered slightly more than $1 million in the past year through the seizing of Brace’s bank accounts, the sale of his downtown Camden commercial building and the sale of personal properties including a boat and car. His homes in Rockport and Rangeley are still for sale, with the net proceeds to go to the charity.
The charity also received $1,230,730 as part of a settlement with The First Bank, which was paid by the bank’s insurer, Traveler’s Insurance. Brace was depositing checks earmarked for the charity in an account he opened at The First Bank, which was a tenant of Brace’s Camden building.
Brace also was ordered to repay the charity an additional $2,167,000.
The charity and Brace had reached an agreement in April in which Brace agreed to repay the organization the more than $4.8 million in donations earmarked for the charity that he stole during his lengthy tenure as president of the board.
Both DeTroy and the charity have said they expect in the end that they would recoup about 65 percent of what was stolen.