AUGUSTA — A Mount Vernon man sentenced Tuesday to six years in federal prison for his roles in pharmacy robberies in Augusta and Gardiner pleaded guilty Thursday at the Capital Judicial Center to theft by receiving stolen property.
Steven C. Chaput, 40, formerly of Chelsea, was ordered to serve a year behind bars, and the sentence will run at the same time as the federal term.
The prosecutor said Chaput and an accomplice had gone into the J&S store in Manchester and the accomplice took tequila off a shelf and brought it into the bathroom on March 10, 2015.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Francis Griffin, said when the two men drank the bottle of tequila, Chaput “did indeed know it was stolen.”
Chaput had two previous convictions for theft, which made this charge a felony.
On Tuesday, Chaput was sentenced at U.S. District Court in Bangor for the Feb. 7, 2015, pharmacy robbery at the Rite Aid on North Belfast Avenue in Augusta and a Feb. 18, 2015, pharmacy robbery at Rite Aid on Spring Street in Gardiner.
According to investigators, Chaput helped to plan the robberies, where Rudger Ellis went into the stores and demanded oxycodone, at one point threatening that he had a gun.
At a separate hearing Thursday also at the Capital Judicial Center, Todd E. Simpson, 42, of Waterville, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and aggravated criminal mischief, was sentenced to an initial 15 days in jail and the remainder of the three-year term was suspended. He was placed on probation for two years.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams