PORTLAND — A Rockport man, who posted a video on Facebook with a firearm saying he was going to Walmart, pleaded guilty Feb. 20 in U.S. District Court in Portland for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

Jeremy H. Rogers, 25, was indicted Dec. 13 by a federal grand jury.

Rogers was arrested Aug. 22 by Thomaston Police Chief Tim Hoppe and charged with felony terrorizing, felony terrorizing with a dangerous weapon and felony possession of a firearm. He has remained in jail since Aug. 22.

The federal government took over the case Sept. 30.

Rogers could face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years along with a fine up to $250,000, and supervised release for up to two years following his release from prison, according to the indictment.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 25 in Portland.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Murphy is prosecuting the case.

Attorney James M. Mason of Brunswick is representing Rogers.

Rogers was convicted in Connecticut in 2016 and was sentenced to two years in jail for criminal possession of a firearm, with the risk of injuring a child. He was paroled from jail after 13 months.

According to the affidavit filed in Knox County Unified Court, Thomaston Police Chief Tim Hoppe alerted Rockport police that he received notification from the New York State Police stating that Rogers had allegedly sent a video via Facebook messenger to a woman in New York while wearing a mask with an AR-15 firearm. In the video, Rogers said he was going to Walmart, according to the affidavit.

His Facebook page showed that he was living in Rockport. 

A second video showed Rogers, this time without a mask, making belittling comments about a woman while pointing a gun at his head, according to the affidavit.

Although Rogers did not mention a specific Walmart in this threats, police and Walmart management decided to close the Thomaston store since it is the closest to Rockport. The store closed at 9 p.m. Wednesday evening, Aug. 21, and reopened with normal business hours the following morning.

Police also found another video on Facebook, this time showing Rogers shooting off a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle into the air at a Mount Pleasant Street property in Rockport, police said. They said that the property was heavily fenced with barbed wire on top of the fence.

When local police and the FBI interviewed Rogers, he admitted that about four days prior to his arrest he had made the video of himself wearing the ski mask and stating that he was going to Walmart, but he said the comment was intended as a joke.

Parts of the affidavit filed by the FBI and included in the indictment, stated that when Rogers posted a photograph of the rifle, he said, “Wanna see my new Walmart killer?”

“I got so bored I bought a bunch of pellets and shotgun shells. I named her Bella,” Rogers also stated in the Facebook posts, according to the FBI affidavit.

After Rogers was taken into custody, police searched his residence in Rockport and found several firearms including a Glock and Russian 9 mm handguns and an AR-15 assault rifle. Police said that the Glock handgun and assault rifle appeared to the same weapons that Rogers showed when he posted videos of himself on Facebook. 

Rogers made his initial appearance in Knox County Unified Court Aug. 23 before Judge Barbara Raimondi.

He has been held at the Knox County Jail in Rockland in “state detention” on $50,000 cash bail. On Sept. 15, he wrote a handwritten letter from jail requesting a bail reduction hearing.

“My current bail is set as $50,000 cash which is very unreasonable and is why I am requesting this hearing,” Rogers stated in his letter.

A hearing that was scheduled on Sept. 26 for Rogers in Knox County Unified Court for allegedly threatening on Facebook to take a gun to Walmart, was postponed due to the possibility that he would be charged under federal law.

Related stories:

https://www. penbaypilot.com/article/rockport-man-indicted-federal-grand-jury-felony-gun-possession/128241

https://www. penbaypilot.com/article/hearing-postponed-man-who-threatened-take-gun-walmart/124987

https://www. penbaypilot.com/article/man-who-threatened-bring-gun-walmart-appears-court/123269

Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com