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Mark Saporita-Fargo with his attorney, Douglas Stevenson.
Man who fled with daughter sentenced to 18-40 years in prison.
#MasonCountyNews #CourtNews
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.
LUDINGTON — Mark Alan Saporita-Fargo, 47, was sentenced to 18 to 40 years in prison in 51st Circuit Court Tuesday, May 30, for convictions of third-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), which involved the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in 2014, and conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment, stemming from the January 2017 kidnapping of his 2-year-old daughter.
Saproita-Fargo pleaded guilty last month in the separate cases.
Saporita-Fargo triggered a statewide manhunt Jan. 24, 2017, when he tried to leave the state with his daughter, Hailey Hunter-Rose Fargo, the night before his scheduled trial in 51st Circuit Court for the CSC charges.
A third charge of absconding while on bond was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to the two counts of third-degree CSC and conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment.
Saporita-Fargo’s fourth-time habitual offender status elevated his maximum possible sentence to life in prison.
Spaniola credits “excellent police work” for the safe return of young Hailey.
Saporita-Fargo was on the verge of losing his parental rights. He and Hailey didn’t report back after an unsupervised visit in Muskegon County Jan. 23. They were spotted by police in Montgomery, Michigan, near the state border after residents recognized them from media reports.
They were driven about 200 miles to Hillsdale County by Jeffrey Alan Miller in his black Ford Taurus. Miller and Saporita-Fargo became friends while they were both previously incarcerated in jail.
“You put your child in danger,” said Judge Jeffrey Nellis.
Spaniola read from a six-page allocution written by the CSC victim’s mother which described Saporita-Fargo as a “very, very sick individual.”
He committed the CSC with the 15-year-old girl on Halloween of 2014, the prosecutor said.
Saporita-Fargo has a “tortuous” criminal record that includes 28 prior convictions beginning in 1985. Previous convictions include breaking and entering, firearms convictions, resisting arrest, marijuana possession, domestic violence, drunk driving and larceny, Spaniola said.
He received credit for 323 days served in jail.
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