AUBURN — Charles “Scooter” Epps is expected to remain in jail pending a hearing to determine whether he violated the terms of his probation, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Epps, 33, of Lewiston is a career criminal and stepfather of a juvenile charged with arson in three downtown fires last spring and reportedly is the supplier of bed sheets used to bind the dead body of a murder victim around the same time. He was the subject of a Sun Journal profile earlier this month.
On Tuesday in the Androscoggin County Law Library, a makeshift courtroom, a judge listened to arguments regarding Epps’ bail.
He was arrested last week and charged with violating his probation stemming from a January conviction for felony theft. He has been held at the Androscoggin County Jail since.
Epps was convicted in January in Androscoggin County Superior Court on a felony count of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer stemming from the theft of $1,000 worth of Legos and other goods from Walmart in 2011. He was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but 16 days suspended, plus two years probation.
This is the second time officers have filed a motion to revoke his probation since January. He was arrested in April and charged with violating probation after testing positive for drugs.
Justice Robert Murray set an October hearing date for the probation violation. Epps is expected to remain in jail until then, unless he were to file a motion to amend his bail conditions or admit to the charge and a judge were to approve.
Murray also changed Epps’ bail from $500 unsecured to $500 cash and required supervision on new charges unrelated to the January theft.
An Androscoggin County grand jury indicted Epps in June on felony counts of burglary of a motor vehicle and theft by unauthorized taking as well as a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, events that police say happened on April 7.
A hearing on a motion to revoke Epps’ bail is scheduled for the same time as the motion to revoke his probation, Oct. 2.
Prosecutors said Epps used illegal drugs, including heroin and Suboxone (for which he has no prescription) and he was carrying two Airsoft guns that shoot plastic BBs, all in violation of his probation terms.
Police went to Epps’ Bartlett Street apartment after getting a complaint that he had a firearm. The apartment was “found to be extremely dirty with the bathroom area covered in what appeared to be vomit and feces on the toilet and floor,” according to a police affidavit.
Police contacted the Department of Health and Human Services and were told the agency would make a home visit.
Sources to the Sun Journal confirmed Tuesday that state workers took Epps’ 1-year-old and 5-month-old daughters into state custody along with a 4-year-old stepson.
Epps is the stepfather of Brody Covey, 13, who is charged with three counts of arson in connection with fires that destroyed three downtown apartment buildings on April 29. He was 12 at the time of the fires.
In police affidavits, witnesses said Epps provided sheets to a defendant charged with murder in the killing of Romeo Parent on April 9. The defendant reportedly used the sheets to bind Parent’s dead body before disposing of it in a Monmouth river.
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