A Westbrook man pleaded guilty in federal court in Portland on Monday to robbing a bank in South Portland in January, during which he allegedly threatened a teller with setting off a bomb, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.
Jason Arsenault, 41, who police described at the time as a “transient male,” was arrested in February on robbery, theft and terrorizing charges in connection to the robbery of Key Bank in South Portland on Jan. 26.
After his arrest, Arsenault confessed and led investigators to the location of nearly all of the $30,000 that was stolen during the robbery hidden in a backpack in Baxter Woods in Portland.
[RELATED: South Portland Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested, Nearly $30,000 Recovered…]
In court records, federal prosecutors alleged that Arsenault, wearing a blank winter hat, sunglasses and a black mask covering his face, pulled up to the drive-through window of the South Portland Key Bank, and sent a threatening note demanding money to the teller through the bank’s pneumatic tube system.
The note read, “CAR BOMB No Cops Alarms or WE ALL DIE $50,000 in 20’s,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The teller then placed money in the tube and sent it back to Arsenault, who drove away.
Investigators were able to locate Arsenault after he and his car were identified using surveillance camera images.
South Portland Police said they found Arsenault within his parked car on Mabel Street in Portland on Feb. 1, six days after the robbery.
After pleading guilty, Arsenault faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I’ve always wondered how someone with no assets to be confiscated is supposed to pay a big fine while they are sitting in prison. Disturbed people used to go to AMHI where they could be treated on an inpatient basis. That is until your gov’t closed it down to “save money”. Now these people are just out on the street.
We need more police protection.
Jason Arsenault, 41, a “Westbrook Man” who police described at the time as a “transient male”… Another person from away? Seeing a theme? And they want to take our guns.