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Saporita-Fargo
Accused kidnapper held on $500,000 bond.
#MasonCountyNews
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.
LUDINGTON — Mark Alan Saporita-Fargo, 47, who allegedly kidnapped his 2-year-old daughter Monday, Jan. 23, was arraigned Tuesday evening in 79th District Court on felony charges of conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment and absconding bond.
Miller
Saporita-Fargo is being held in the Mason County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond. He is also being charged as a fourth-offense habitual offender, according to a press release from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. He is scheduled for a preliminary exam Feb. 15 at 11:15 a.m. in district court.
Saporita-Fargo’s alleged accomplice, 50-year-old Jeffery Alan Miller, is being transported to the Mason County Jail later today, according to the sheriff’s office. Miller has not yet been arraigned.
Hailey Hunter-Rose Fargo, the 2-year-old allegedly taken by her father, was found Tuesday morning near the town of Montgomery, Michigan following an extensive search by police. She is reported to be unharmed.
Saporita-Fargo was lodged in the Hillsdale County Jail following his arrest Tuesday. Miller, who was later arrested and lodged in jail, also faces a felony charge of conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment.
Saporita-Fargo and Miller traveled in Miller’s black Ford Taurus during the alleged kidnapping.
Conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment is punishable by up to
Hailey
15 years in prison. Absconding bond is a four-year felony.
Saporita-Fargo, who was free on bond, was scheduled to appear in 51st Circuit Court in Ludington Tuesday morning for a third-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) trial, which he skipped when he fled with the toddler. The charge stems from an incident that occurred Oct. 31, 2014 involving a teenage victim, said Mason County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola. Hailey was not the victim in that case, he said.
A new trial date has not yet been scheduled.
Saporita-Fargo failed to return Hailey to a foster care home in Muskegon County following an unsupervised visit Monday.
Spaniola said a “third-party provider” was supervising Hailey’s placement in foster care. “The court had afforded the discretion to the foster care worker to allow visitation in her discretion whether it was supervised or unsupervised. He has been having unsupervised visits for the approximately the last six weeks. There were no indications of any concerns during those visits or during the supervised visits. There had been supervised visits for several months prior to that, and according to the worker he earned the ability for unsupervised visitation.”
The investigation is a joint effort involving the Michigan State Police, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office and the Mason County Prosecutor’s Office. The FBI office in Grand Rapids is also assisting in the investigation.
Investigators contacted the Michigan Intelligence Operations Center (MIOC), requesting an Amber Alert. “It was determined by MIOC the criteria for Amber Alert were not met, however an Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA) was granted and law enforcement state-wide were alerted,” Cole said.
“This morning, a citizen called the Hillsdale County Central Dispatch and advised them they thought they had seen the child and one of the adults at a residence near the town of Montgomery, Michigan, which I am told is down by the state line in Hillsdale County,” the sheriff said Tuesday. “A Michigan state trooper and a Hillsdale county deputy responded to that wellbeing check, and we are happy to report they found Fargo and they got Hailey.”
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