Crimes Committed by Perpetrators on Bail or Early Release Continue as Some Seek More Leniency

Is the generous application of bail in pre-trial criminal cases, or early release when it comes to convicted and incarcerated criminals putting society at greater risk?

Encountering what appears to be an uptick in arrests of individuals whose alleged crimes are compounded by the charge of “violating conditions of release,” The Maine Wire recently reviewed hundreds of cases in search of an answer. This review comes at a moment when policy-makers are seeking to expand early release and soften the sentencing guidelines in Maine state law.

Maine legislators, particularly Democrats, have pushed over the current session for increasingly lenient criminal penalties, with bills to ban life sentences, do away with mandatory minimum criminal sentences, reduce penalties for cocaine possession, and even eliminate some criminal penalties for violating conditional release.

[RELATED: Maine Democrat Lawmakers Move to Soften Crack Cocaine Laws, Citing Systemic Inequality…]

Efforts to loosen criminal penalties across the state stem from the progressive variant of “restorative justice,” which generally prioritizes rehabilitation over retribution in criminal sentencing and focuses on “equity” and lenience for criminals, while neglecting their victims or the dangers they pose to the community at large.

In this vein, one apparently restorative justice-inspired bill from Rep. David Sinclair (D-Bath), LD 179, seeks to eliminate the Class E crime of violating conditions of release, granting leniency to some criminals who have been released on bail or probation. The bill would maintain the Class C version of the same crime, which applies when release conditions have been violated repeatedly or through the commission of additional felonies.

That draft legislation drew just one co-sponsor, Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) and, was tabled at its most recent work session earlier this month in the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, and no additional work session has yet been scheduled.

Proponents of progressive restorative justice ideals often argue that greater leniency will help rehabilitate criminals and by extension improve society. However, a look at Maine incarceration records shows that many paroled criminals and those released on bail frequently use their freedom to commit more crimes and terrorize their communities.

The Maine Wire reviewed a multitude of arrest records, and founds hundreds of criminals currently incarcerated who were arrested while out on conditional release.

Earlier this month, Tanade Muse, 31, was arrested in Portland while on probation following a previous unspecified conviction.

[RELATED: Portland Woman Found Shot in Apartment, Suspect Facing Domestic Violence Charges…]

Muse allegedly shot a 36-year-old woman in Portland on April 20, leaving her injured and in need of hospitalization.

He allegedly tried to flee the scene but was arrested shortly after law enforcement discovered the injured woman. He faces charges of aggravated domestic assault, falsifying physical evidence, and illegally possessing a firearm as a prohibited individual.

Domestic violence appeared to be a common crime for individuals out on bail or conditional release, based on a review of hundreds of arrest records.

In February, law enforcement arrived at a Belfast motel following reports of a domestic assault incident.

They discovered a woman claiming that her boyfriend, Jacob McFarland, 31, had recently been arrested for domestic violence, but that he had been released on bail, with his bail conditions requiring him to avoid all contact with her.

Instead, she told them, McFarland made contact with her and, over the course of three days, stole her cellphone and threatened to murder her with a knife.

Officers found McFarland hiding in a room while armed with a knife. The Maine State Police Crisis Negotiation Team arrived on the scene after the victim had been removed from danger and took McFarland into custody.

He faces charges for violating his bail conditions, domestic violence assault, and criminal threatening.

Last July, a similar incident occurred when Andrew E. Clay, 38, was arrested for violating his conditional release, and charged with a slew of domestic violence-related crimes, including domestic violence strangulation, aggravated domestic assault, and even attempted murder.

These and many similar domestic violence incidents perpetrated by criminals out on conditional release programs suggest that more lenient bail and parole laws endanger the victims of domestic violence, putting them at significant risk from their abusers.

The numerous cases add weight to the testimony submitted against LD 179 by the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, which argued that removing criminal penalties for some conditional release violations will put women at heightened risk of reprisal from their abusive partners.

“To remove the ability of the criminal legal system to respond swiftly and with a real consequence to a perpetrator’s continued refusal to leave their victim alone is a violation of the basic responsibility that our criminal legal system has to the crime victims while criminal cases are pending. Make no mistake – that is what this bill proposes to do,” the coalition testified.

“To remove this level of protection in DV cases, without similarly implementing a criminal court protection order in DV cases, is out of step with a functional criminal court response to victims in these cases. Keep in mind, the time period following separation of a victim from the person harming them is often the most dangerous,” they added.

Perpetrators of domestic violence are not the only criminals likely to commit additional serious crimes while out on parole or bail.

Drug trafficking and possession appeared frequently among the hundreds of criminals The Maine Wire identified using arrest data as having allegedly violated the conditions of their release.

One Paris drug bust in January led law enforcement to arrest Maxx Noble, 37, and Ryan Cremona, 25, along with five other defendants after they found fentanyl, crack cocaine, and drug paraphernalia in their possession.

Both Noble and Cremona were discovered to be out on conditional release following earlier arrests and were charged with violations of their release along with drug trafficking.

In March, Patrick M. McNamara, 39, was arrested for a parole violation when he was allegedly discovered in possession of cocaine base. In addition to the drug charges, he faces charges for allegedly assaulting a police officer, obstructing justice, resisting arrest, and failing to appear in court.

Earlier this month, Westbrook man Ryan J. Griffin, 46, was arrested for violating his conditional release, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, methamphetamine possession, and drug trafficking.

Lenient bail and parole laws appear to do little to help rehabilitate drug addicts and dealers such as these. Instead, these cases, and many like them, show that early conditional release programs often serve only to give criminals another opportunity to continue dealing or consuming illegal drugs.

The Maine Wire reached out to the state’s Department of Corrections, requesting information on the recidivism rate of criminals on conditional release, but the department did not respond.

As LD 179 aims to further relax Maine’s parole and bail laws, Sen. David Haggan (R-Penobscot) intends to use his proposed LD 1536, “An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Bail,” to roll back some 2021 bail reform provisions that made it easier for criminals to be released.

[RELATED: Sen. Haggan Wants Judges and Commissioners to Have More Say Over Who Gets Bail…]

Sen. Haggan’s bill is set for consideration at a work session in the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety on Wednesday.