BANGOR – A former University of Maine student pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to robbing the University Credit Union in Bangor of more than $2,200 on April 4.

Steven Wesley Bell, 19, of Bangor and Newport appeared in court wearing a white button-down dress shirt and khaki pants.

Two University Credit Union employees were present at the hearing, but none of Bell’s family or friends attended.

Bell faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing date has not been set. He is being held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail.

Bell admitted Tuesday that he entered the University Credit Union on Union Street at approximately 9:15 a.m. April 4 with his hooded sweatshirt pulled over his face.

Bell handed the teller a note, which read: “THIS IS A HOLDUP!! I HAVE A GUN. PUT 100’S, 50’S AND 20’S IN BAG AND YOU WILL NOT GET HURT.”

The demand note, which he left in the credit union, was written on a half sheet of paper, on the back of which was an article about lead poisoning.

Bell handed the teller a bag, said he had a gun, repeated the information given in the note, and once he received the denominations he requested from the teller, he put the money in his jacket pocket and left the credit union on foot, the affidavit said.

He was identified by a teller at the credit union, who said she had taken classes with him at the University of Maine.

Bell was picked up outside his Ohio Street apartment, at the Cedar Wood complex, two days after the robbery.

When investigators searched his Union Street apartment, police found practice demand notes, which matched the note used in the credit union robbery.

Police said that despite what was written in the demand note, Bell was not armed at the time of the robbery and none of the approximately 20 employees was injured.

At the time of his arrest in April, Bell was admitted to Eastern Maine Medical Center for evaluation. He tested positive for the presence of marijuana, cocaine, methadone, opiates and some of the chemicals contained in ecstasy, according to court documents.

In court on Tuesday, Bell told the judge that he didn’t have a clear recollection of denying to police, at the time of the arrest, that he had committed the crime.

After Bell entered his guilty plea, his attorney J. Hilary Billings of Portland, discussed the reason his client committed the robbery.

“I don’t think reason is a concept that generally applies to this conduct,” Billings, said. “Like so many unfortunate young people, Mr. Bell is struggling with an addiction problem.”

Bell does not have a plea agreement with prosecutors. Assistant U.S. Attorney James McCarthy said after the hearing that he could not predict what sentence might be imposed in the case.

“It’s difficult to say [what sentence he might face] because [we] don’t have details for all or any prior offenses, and also issues about how the court will treat the hand in the pocket, and the written and spoken threat of having a gun,” he said.

Bell also is facing state charges for alleged drug possession and passing more than $1,500 worth of bad checks while a student at the university.