Felon returns to jail for assaulting inmate

CARIBOU – A Stockholm man who spent a year in prison for illegally possessing weapons is heading back to jail for assaulting a fellow inmate while in jail.

Andrew Gerakaris, 49, pleaded no contest Thursday in Aroostook County Superior Court to assaulting the inmate in December 1999 at the county jail in Houlton.

During a brief hearing at the Caribou court, Gerakaris was ordered by Justice Paul T. Pierson to serve 30 days at the Aroostook County Jail.

Once in the federal witness protection program, Gerakaris’ testimony landed a former Massachusetts congressman in prison on corruption charges in 1993. A Bay State native, Gerakaris was a probation officer in that state and had spent time in prison for fraud, tax evasion and larceny.

Gerakaris lives on a former dairy farm in Stockholm with his wife and two children.

In October 1999, police searched his Stockholm property and confiscated several firearms and various types of ammunition. Last year, he was convicted of possession of weapons by a felon and of assault of his then-girlfriend and spent one year in prison.

In exchange for a no-contest plea, District Attorney Neale T. Adams dismissed a charge of tampering with a witness.

In addition to the jail time, Gerakaris was ordered to pay $800 in restitution to the jail and $580 in restitution to the victim for hospital charges. According to court records, the inmate was treated for injuries to his head and shoulder at Houlton Regional Hospital.

Gerakaris is scheduled to turn himself in at the Houlton jail at 10 a.m. Monday, April 9.

The defendant, accompanied, during the hearing by his wife, Susan, was represented Thursday by attorney Richard Currier of Presque Isle.