A Waldo man convicted of threatening a police officer at his home was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in federal prison for illegal gun possession, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Jesse Newton, 30, of Waldo, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession a firearm, to be served after he completes a two-year prison term for violating his supervised release, according to a news release.
Newton pleaded guilty to both charges on July 7 at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor, where he was sentenced.
In January 2012, Newton set off acid bombs in the driveway of a Waldo County sheriff’s detective after the detective arrested Newton’s sister on a warrant. The detective was home watching television when he heard three loud explosions outside, according to state court documents.
He went outside to investigate the loud blasts, and found a lot of new, shiny roofing nails in his driveway, three plastic soda bottles that had exploded and several other soda bottles that had not exploded, according to the affidavit. No one was injured. Police investigating the bombs traced the purchase of the nails to Newton. A further investigation led to a federal charge of being a felon in possession of ammunition.
In addition to prison time, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock on Wednesday sentenced Newton to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $27,000 in back child support, according to court documents.
In imposing the maximum sentence for the gun crime, Woodcock said that Newton’s threats to kill a police officer, his assault on a cooperating witness, his use of a firearm in connection with marijuana cultivation, his failure to accept responsibility for his crimes and his lengthy criminal history — which included attacks on the homes of at least two police officers — were reasons Woodcock imposed the maximum sentence, the news release said.
A request for comment from Newton’s attorney, Hunter Tzovarras of Bangor, was not immediately returned.
Newton was sentenced in October 2013 to two years in federal prison for illegally possessing ammunition. He completed his prison term on June 26, 2015, and began three years of supervised release under the supervision of U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, court documents said.
On July 13, 2016, a search of Newton’s home showed he was violating his supervised release by possessing a 9-mm semi-automatic pistol, 9-mm casings, rifle stock and 46 marijuana plants, the news release said. Investigators later learned that Newton possessed 10 other guns.
Newton’s criminal history in state court included four assaults, terrorizing, criminal use of explosives, criminal threatening, criminal mischief, harassment, disorderly conduct, refusing to submit to arrest and obstruction of reporting of a crime, according to documents filed in federal court in Bangor.
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