PORTLAND — A judge OK’d the drug recovery plan for a former Sabattus man who served a three-year sentence for his conviction on federal gun crimes, but is accused of violating terms of his release.

Scott A. Estes, 42, appeared Wednesday in U.S. District Court where his attorney, Robert Andrews, was seeking to have Estes released from federal custody and instead be placed in a residential in-patient substance abuse rehabilitation program in Auburn starting Monday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Green didn’t object to the proposal.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Karen Wolf approved the plan, cautioning Estes that, “I don’t expect it to be easy for you … it’s not just a pass to get you out of where you are now.”

Estes has been held in jail pending his release to the recovery program since his arrest last month.

After pleading guilty, he was sentenced in October 2019 for having a stolen gun and being a convicted felony with a gun.

In March 2021, he finished serving his prison sentence and began three years of supervised release.

In November 2022, a judge tightened restrictions on Estes’ conditions of his release after his probation officer cited repeated violations of drug and alcohol prohibitions between May 2022 and November, according to court records.

Since November, Estes again failed several tests for drug and alcohol use, according to court documents. His probation officer recommended his supervised release be revoked.

Estes faces up to two years in prison for violation of release on each of the two felony convictions.

Wolf set an unsecured bond of $10,000 for Estes. If he were to fail to abide by the terms of his release, including any new criminal conduct, he could be ordered to pay that money.

Wolf told Estes: “I expect you to work hard there. That’s the path to getting your life on track.”

Estes told the judge he appreciated the opportunity she was giving him.

He blamed his lapse during his release from prison on working harder than he should have.

“I lost sight of my goal,” he said.

Estes’ underlying convictions stem from a 2017 call to 911 from a woman who told dispatchers she was driving her truck with Estes, her boyfriend at the time, who was the passenger.

She said he had pointed a gun at her.

A seven-hour standoff with police ensued, ending peacefully with police recovering a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol that had been reported stolen.

He had been a convicted felon and prohibited from having firearms.