Bangor man sentenced to 3 years in prison for firing gun in the air

A Bangor man was sentenced to prison after he fired a shot in the air in the Capehart neighborhood.

Toman Caudill, 31, was sentenced Monday to three years in federal prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock. Caudill pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person.

Caudill fired the shot into the air Sept. 3, near Rangeley Place in Bangor’s Capehart neighborhood. He was originally charged in Penobscot County Superior Court but those charges were dismissed.

He, his fiancee and his toddler-aged son were on a walk when a man approached them with a baseball bat, they told police. The man had confronted Caudill and his fiancee before. There were “serious racial animus issues” from the man, Caudill’s attorney William Maselli said. Caudill is a Black man.

Caudill had a loaded handgun in his waistband and a box of ammunition in his backpack when he went on the walk, according to court records. He had at least three previous felony convictions which means he cannot legally possess a gun and ammunition.

He pointed the gun at the other man and then fired a single “warning shot” into the air, according to court records.

“I’m truly sorry,” Caudill said at the sentencing. “I take responsibility for my actions.”

All of this happened in broad daylight, with people and children in the area.

The other person’s conduct was “deplorable,” Woodcock said. However, Caudill’s actions were “extraordinarily risky.” Shooting a gun in a residential area is a serious crime, even if there are extenuating circumstances, Woodcock said.

While Caudill is on supervised release, he must participate in batterer’s intervention therapy, Woodcock ordered. Caudill has multiple convictions related to domestic violence assault and criminal threatening.

“I think you need to really think about the way you’re acting,” Woodcock said. “I think you need to think about the way you’re acting with the women who love you and the children who love you and the examples you’re giving them.”

Caudill’s fiancee and a longtime friend both spoke about the man Caudill turned into during the more than five years they’ve known him. He had an abusive childhood, but is trying to turn his life around.

Caudill is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service before being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.