BANGOR, Maine — A Winterport man pleaded guilty to escape from federal custody during a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
Brandon Caparotta, 24, of Winterport had six weeks left to serve when he was arrested Nov. 23 by federal marshals at a townhouse complex on Griffin Road in Bangor after he escaped from the Northern Maine Regional Re-Entry Center, a contracted correctional facility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to court records and published reports.
At that time, Caparotta was completing a 4½ year prison sentence for two felony firearm offenses.
After arriving at the facility in late September 2015, Caparotta was told he could not leave the facility without permission, he had to keep the facility advised of his whereabouts while on a work pass, he could not leave a work site without permission and he had to return to the facility after work hours.
On Sept. 22, Caparotta received a work pass but failed to return. The investigation revealed Caparotta left his work site early that day and did not have permission to be at the Griffin Road complex.
Caparotta 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 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 Caparotta had walked off the job about 1 p.m. that day, court documents said.
The supervisor also said Caparotta had asked him to say Caparotta was at work when the U.S. Office of Probation and Pretrial Services called to verify whether he 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 faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after completion of a presentence report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation that led to Caparotta’s guilty plea was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Bangor Daily News writer Judy Harrison contributed to this report.