BANGOR, Maine — A former Winterport man who was about six weeks from completing his 4½-year federal prison term for stealing guns has been charged with escape after he failed to return from work to a prerelease center.
Brandon Caparotta, 24, is being held without bail pending his first appearance Dec. 9 in U.S. District Court. He was one of four men convicted in connection with the theft of guns from a licensed firearms dealer in Orrington five years ago.
Caparotta was sentenced June 7, 2011, in federal court in Bangor to 4½ years in prison after pleading guilty to one count each of theft of firearms and possession of stolen firearms, according to a previously published report. He began serving his sentence the following month.
On Sept. 30, Caparotta was transferred from the federal correction center in Pollock, Louisiana, to the Northern Maine Regional Re-entry Center in Bangor, located on the campus of the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center, according to court documents. He was due to be released on Jan. 5, 2016.
Caparotta was working at a Dunkin’ Donuts on Nov. 22, but failed to return by 7 p.m. as required. When a safety officer at the re-entry center spoke with Caparotta’s supervisor at the coffee shop, he said that Caparotta had walked off the job about 1 p.m. that day, court documents said.
The supervisor also said that Caparotta had asked him to say Caparotta was at work when the U.S. Office of Probation and Pretrial Services called to verify Caparotta was at work. The supervisor refused to lie.
Caparotta was arrested the next day in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Griffin Road in Bangor, according to court documents.
If convicted of the new escape charge, Caparotta could be sent back to federal prison for up to five years and fined up to $250,000.
Caparotta was one of four men convicted in connection with the Aug. 23, 2010, burglary at Mill Creek Rod & Gun shop. Tyler Damon, 24, of Brewer was sentenced to four years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was released in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator website.
Tyler Damon’s cousin, Corey Ryan Damon, 25, of Millinocket, whose criminal history record stretched back to his teens, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and three years of supervised release. He is incarcerated at Coleman I, a high-security federal penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida, and is due to be released in June 2023.
Robert Ryan Barker, 35, of Dedham served 18 months in prison, completed three years of supervised release and paid a $1,000 fine for possessing some of the stolen weapons, according to information posted on the court’s electronic case filing system. He was released from prison in October 2012.
The Damons and Caparotta planned the burglary but went to the gun shop, which was located in the owner’s home, in separate vehicles, according to court documents.
The Damons were arrested a few hours after the burglary on charges related to a stolen vehicle Corey Damon was driving. Caparotta was arrested three days later for his role in the incident.
The owner of the Orrington gun shop was alerted to the burglary by barking from Buddy, the family dog. Don Barrett, who has operated the gun shop in the basement of his home on Mill Creek Road for 30 years, was awakened by the Jack Russell terrier at about 2:45 a.m. Aug. 23, 2010.
A few minutes later, he found the door to his shop open and three Winchester rifles on the floor. Barrett told police he saw a car and a truck leaving the scene.
While investigating the burglary, Maine State Police Trooper Christopher Hashey learned a truck had gone off Wiswell Road in Brewer. The truck, which was being driven by Corey Damon, was reported stolen from Corinth, and in the bed of the truck was a minibike stolen by Caparotta, according to a previously published report. The cousins were trying to steal a motorcycle when they got the truck stuck.