NH man gets 14½ years for marijuana heist in York, Maine, where homeowner was shot
YORK, Maine — A New Hampshire man was sentenced to 14½ years in prison Monday on charges stemming from a violent home invasion in which he and three others targeted the residence for marijuana and cash.
Jason Candelario, 34, of Manchester, was sentenced in Maine’s U.S. District Court on conspiracy, robbery and firearm charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday. Prosecutors say he and three others attempted to rob a home on Rowe Falls Lane on Aug. 2, 2019, resulting in the homeowner being shot.
Court documents state the homeowner operated a marijuana manufacturing and distribution business at the home.
Police said Candelario, Derek Daprato, Luis Carpio and Andrew Soboleski plotted the robbery, traveling as a group from Hooksett, New Hampshire, to the York residence in two cars. They said the group brought a backpack containing duct tape, zip ties and empty garbage bags.
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Candelario and Carpio, according to prosecutors, got out of the car and hid in the woods near the home’s garage. When the homeowner backed into the garage, prosecutors say Candelario and Carpio rushed into the garage armed with handguns and wearing masks.
The homeowner was accompanied by two others, and a violent altercation ensued, according to prosecutors. They said the homeowner and one of the robbers ended up on the ground, while one of the other robbers came around the vehicle to aid in subduing the resident. A firearm was discharged, and the bullet struck the homeowner in the lower abdomen, they said.
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Candelario and the other robbers then fled the scene, police say, and the homeowner’s girlfriend, who was in the car at the time of the incident, called 911. The homeowner was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery to remove the .45 caliber bullet from his abdomen.
Police said they identified one of the suspects after an officer captured the license plate of a passing car near the scene seven minutes after the 911 call reporting the shooting. The car was later connected to Carpio. Police also used DNA, Facebook records, cell phone records and cell tower data to show that the four men were connected and in the area at the time of the robbery.
All four of the suspects have pleaded guilty in the case.
Candelario's prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the DOJ. He was also ordered to pay $180,277.06 in restitution. Candelario had four prior felony convictions and was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law. Police said they learned in the Rowe Falls Lane investigation that Candelario also allegedly perpetrated a similar armed robbery a few weeks prior, captured on video on July 20, 2019, in Canton, Massachusetts.
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Not the first the time home was targeted
The Row Falls Lane home was also the target of another home invasion and robbery just three months prior to the August 2019 incident, and also resulted in the homeowner being shot. All three suspects in that attempted robbery are now serving prison sentences – Nathaniel Rivera, Eric Mercado and Steven Hardy.
Police said Rivera traveled to a York home with two women on May 3, 2019, where they met the homeowner and drank alcohol and went into a hot tub. While the four were in the hot tub, Mercado and Hardy entered the home and ordered the victim to go into a bathroom, but he refused and fled, which is when the robbers shot at him and hit him in the leg, according to court records.
Although police did not confirm the two incidents took place at the same residence or involved the same victim, neighbors said both took place at the same address and involved the victim.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH man gets 14½ years for marijuana heist in York, ME; homeowner shot
