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BANGOR – Less than a month after pleading not guilty to gun possession charges, a Machias woman is back in federal custody.
Jennifer Jacques, 23, agreed Tuesday in U.S. District Court to be detained in jail rather than face a possible bail violation charge for allegedly being out of her residence and associating with known drug users. She had been living in Machias under virtual house arrest with her mother.
Jacques and Joseph L. Hanscom, 24, of Machias were arrested in September in Ithaca, N.Y., and charged with stealing 800 tablets of OxyContin from the Machias Apothecary. Four stolen firearms were found in their apartment.
Jacques’ father owns the Machias pharmacy.
Jacques and Hanscom were indicted by a federal grand jury in December on the gun charges, but she had been seriously injured in a car accident in November and was not arraigned until April.
Hanscom pleaded not guilty to the gun charges in December. Their trial has been scheduled tentatively for July in U.S. District Court in Bangor.
Neither has been indicted in state court on charges related to the pharmacy theft.
Jacques’ bail conditions for the federal charges included staying in her mother’s house, except for meeting with her attorney, doctor’s appointments and court appearances.
Terence Harrigan, Jacques’ Bangor attorney, said after Tuesday’s hearing that under the federal sentencing guidelines, if she had fought the alleged bail violation, Jacques risked not getting credit for taking responsibility for the crime should she decide to plead guilty later on.
Under the guidelines, months or years are shaved off the sentences of convicted felons who plead guilty rather than go to trial. Judges have interpreted opposition to motions to revoke bail as not taking responsibility for a crime, according to Harrigan.
Jacques was injured in a fatal car accident on Nov. 16 in Marion Township. The driver, Mark Preston, who was one day short of his 28th birthday, died from injuries he suffered in the accident. State police estimated the vehicle was traveling at more than 100 mph when Preston lost control on Route 86 near Dennysville.
If convicted on the federal gun charges, Hanscom and Jacques could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison, fined $250,000, or both.
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