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BANGOR – The inmate at the Penobscot County Jail who last year staged a four-week hunger strike pleaded guilty Friday to federal gun charges.
James Emerson, 24, of Bangor waived indictment and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor to two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and two counts of possessing stolen firearms in connection with a burglary last year.
A sentencing date has not been set. Emerson faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
His case was delayed while he underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation at a medical center run by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Devens, Mass. A competency hearing was scheduled to be held Friday, but late last month Emerson’s attorney, Dale Thistle of Newport, told the court his client wished to plead guilty without having the hearing.
Emerson was arrested in April 2005 along with his brother James Emerson, 21, Douglas Urquhart Jr., 27, Joshua Cass, 21, all of Bangor, and Megan McGraw, 20, of Eddington for burglarizing several homes in Corinth and stealing guns and other weapons.
While awaiting trial on state charges in the Penobscot County Jail, James Emerson refused to eat. He also fought jail personnel’s intent to force feed him should it be needed. He ended his hunger strike after four weeks, about a month before he was indicted by a federal grand jury on the charges he pleaded guilty to Friday.
A little more than a week after he ended his hunger strike, Emerson tried to hang himself with a bedsheet. His face was red, but corrections officers found him before he needed resuscitation, according to Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross.
Emerson was arrested 13 months ago at the home of Joshua Cass’ father. Jeffrey Cass, a firefighter in Corinth, returned to his Black Road residence on his lunch break to discover his son, along with Joshua Emerson and Urquhart trying to steal hunting equipment. James Emerson and McGraw were arrested nearby in a waiting car.
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