PORTLAND, Maine — According to the Maine Department of Corrections, last year only 23 percent of people released from prison ended up back there.
The DOC attributes this in part to the plans created to keep people out of trouble, and while the department wouldn't speak to Joseph Eaton's case specifically, cases like this are the exception.
All of this happened just three days after he was released from the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.
People incarcerated here in Maine have a number of resources at their disposal, including substance use treatment, employment opportunities, or continuing education that they may have started while in prison.
"Understand not every prisoner or former prisoner, former justice-impacted citizen, is going to avail themselves of those programs," Noel March, director of the Maine Community Policing Institute at the University of Maine at Augusta, said.
The Department of Corrections would not share any details about Eaton's time in prison or whether he used any of those services.
As for when he got out, being a convicted felon, Eaton was not legally allowed to own or possess a gun. He couldn't walk into any gun store and buy one because a background check would have thrown up a red flag.
"There are still states in this country where there are avenues and opportunities to obtain firearms," March said.
Maine is one of those states that has a loophole that some lawmakers are still trying to close.
If a person buys a gun at a gun show or at a private sale, a background check may not necessarily be conducted.
"We need to do better work at understanding what could possibly happen and how we can improve offender compliance," March added.
March said one thing we all need to remember.
"Virtually every individual incarcerated in Maine, whether in our county jail or our department of corrections, will one day return to being neighbors," March said.