LEWISTON – Jesse Caron, a one-time fugitive who evaded police for more than a month, is free again after posting bail.
Two weeks after he was captured by a team of local and federal agents, Caron was released from the Androscoggin County Jail after posting $10,000 bail.
The amount Caron paid for his freedom is roughly equivalent to the amount of money spent on the search for him beginning at the start of the year, police said.
The 28-year-old Sabattus Street man, a suspect in a number of drug and weapons charges, was arrested Feb. 14 after more than a month of local, state and federal officials hunting for him. The arrest ended a search that involved Caron’s appearance on the national television show “America’s Most Wanted.”
Days after his capture, an Androscoggin County Superior Court judge lowered his bail from $40,000 to $10,000. Caron posted that bail last week and has remained free since.
Caron faces numerous counts of aggravated trafficking in narcotics and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“We spent a considerable amount of time catching him,” said Lewiston police Lt. Michael McGonagle. “We’d obviously like to see him back in court to face these charges.”
Federal agents caught up with Caron on Valentine’s Day as the fugitive went into a bar in Gray to ask his mother for money, police said.
Police said Caron was found with a .45-caliber handgun when he was captured. His girlfriend, 18-year-old Amber Smith, was arrested on a charge of hindering apprehension. She has since been freed.
The case against Caron began shortly after Halloween when police went to his home to investigate a report from a woman who said she had been drugged and raped at a party.
When police searched the home, investigators said they found powdered and crack cocaine and an assault rifle.
During his run from the law, police said Caron used bogus checks to pay for at least a half-dozen cars he used to slip away from his pursuers.
Those matters are still being investigated, police said.
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