PORTLAND — The Alfred man charged by federal agents Friday with allegedly building pipe bombs in the basement of his Avery Road home ”“ and having five in his car when he drove himself to the hospital ”“ first served time in federal prison 23 years ago.

Robert W. Infante, 47, appeared relaxed as he made a first appearance before magistrate judge John Rich at U.S. District Court in Portland Monday. Held in federal custody at Cumberland County Jail, he is scheduled to appear Thursday for a hearing to determine if he will be released on bail.

Wearing orange prison garb, his left hand bandaged and sporting a sling as a result of injuries he sustained in an explosion at his home, Infante chuckled as he talked with his court appointed attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender J. Hilary Billings, before Monday’s hearing convened.

Infante is charged with possessing an unregistered destructive device. If convicted on the single count, he could be sentenced to as many as 10 years in federal prison.

But further charges are likely. Infante has spent time in federal prison on at least three prior occasions.

According to a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Infante was convicted in 1987 of possession of a destructive device and possession of a firearm by a felon and sentenced to three years. In 1989, he was convicted of possession and manufacturing destructive devices and making false statements and sentenced to five years. Noting the discrepancy in the length of time between the first sentence and the second, the spokeswoman said federal inmates are eligible for time off their sentence for good behavior.

In 1993, Infante was sentenced to seven years in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon and was later sentenced to eight months for possessing alcohol and marijuana, a probation violation, in 2001.

“There is a single count pending now,” said Billings, outside the federal court building. “Within the next 30 days, I am sure the charges will be somewhat different. There could be a collection of other charges.”

U.S. Attorney Stacey D. Neumann declined to comment.

Rich questioned Infante about his assets to determine his eligibility for a court-appointed attorney.

Infante told Rich that he has been unemployed since 2007, had about $3,000 in savings and owned two vehicles: A Toyota Camry and an old full-size Bluebird school bus he said he was in the process of converting into a recreational vehicle. He said he had a collection of Persian rugs and a collection of semi-precious stones like aquamarines and bloodstones.

On Friday morning, he allegedly told Alfred fire and rescue officials he had been injured in a propane explosion at his home, and later said he was injured when filling a butane lighter. He refused treatment and drove himself to hospital.

Federal agents and the state bomb squad converged on the hospital parking lot Friday afternoon and detonated five pipe bombs located in the trunk of a car registered in his name. Later in the day, the bomb squad made its way to Avery Road in north Alfred, where they detonated four or five pipe bombs found in the house where he was living.

A state fire investigator told authorities that when he searched the house after the initial report of a propane explosion, he found 12 pipe bombs in various stages of construction, more than 100 marijuana plants and a shotgun.

Billings said it was his understanding that Infante had been in Maine for “a couple of years.”

According to documents on file with the Town of Alfred, the Cape Cod-style home at 60 Avery Road where Infante has been living was built in 2005 and is owned by Sydney A. Milliken of Eastham, Mass. Several attempts to reach Milliken Monday and today were unsuccessful.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.