PORTLAND, Maine — Editor's note: The video above was published Dec. 24, 2023.
A man from Massachusetts has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after kidnapping and bringing a woman to Maine against her will in 2019.
Stephen Pilson, 56, of Brighton, Massachusetts, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland to two concurrent sentences, 156 months in prison for kidnapping and 50 months for interstate violation of a protective order, followed by four years of supervised release, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maine.
Pilson was found guilty on Dec. 21, 2023, after a three-day trial.
In December of 2019, Pilson drove the woman "with whom he had a relationship" from Massachusetts to Maine against her will, and told her they were headed to Canada "where she would die," the release stated.
Pilson had been drinking heavily during the trip and had "tied the victim to the vehicle’s gear shift with her scarf and struck her when she tried to escape."
After woman reportedly broke the vehicle's key off in the ignition, Pilson pulled over on Interstate 95 in Arundel, both fleeing into the woods.
Pilson was found with the help of a police dog, according to the release. Maine State Police troopers reportedly received calls from at least five concerned motorists.
Three days before the incident, Pilson pleaded guilty to five charges, including kidnapping the same woman, and was sentenced to time served and probation, with a no-contact order.
While in jail, Pilson reportedly tried to convince the woman in a recorded phone call to withdraw her police statement and to stop cooperating with the investigation, threatening to kill himself if she did not follow through.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force and Maine State Police.
