He tested positive for cocaine on Feb. 20, a violation of a condition to stay away from drugs, probation officials said in court papers seeking a warrant for his arrest. He tested positive for marijuana on June 12, June 18 and June 27, the court papers show. That was a few weeks before he was arrested on a charge of using a knife to try to slice through the screen of his ex-girlfriend's bedroom window, which was another alleged violation and which he failed to report to probation, which was yet another. He tested positive again for cocaine on Sept. 23.

None of those drug tests or the July arrest immediately prompted federal probation officials to try to revoke his supervised release or to modify its terms, such as having him go to a halfway house where he'd have more supervision.

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The positive drug tests and the July criminal charge raise questions about federal probation's oversight of a man who police had warned was a local Latin Kings gang leader with a propensity for violence.

"The way [the First Step Act is] written is broken," said Lauren Rodrigues, a cousin of the man, 46-year-old Troy Pine. "The law is a good idea, but it's broken and it needs to be fixed."

The part of the First Step Act that allowed Francisco's release says nothing of what should happen after someone is released from prison under its terms, doesn't mandate support services like living in a halfway house, and is silent on what should happen if someone violates the terms of their release, as authorities now say Francisco did repeatedly, without consequence until someone was dead.

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Federal prosecutors were not aware of any alleged violations of Francisco's supervised release, either the failed drug tests or the July arrest, according to Jim Martin, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Rhode Island.

Though he'd been ordered to report any arrests while on supervised release, Francisco did not report the July arrest to probation, U.S. District Chief Judge William Smith said in an interview with The Providence Journal. The probation officer, Elvis Guillen, found out during a routine background check in August and opted to work informally with Francisco to counsel him about his alleged infractions, the least punitive of the options Guillen could have taken, according to Smith.

Smith said he was unaware of the failed cocaine tests but had been informed of a positive marijuana test by probation. Guillen had mistakenly alerted Smith of the positive marijuana test via email, and not Judge John J. McConnell Jr., the judge who signed off on the agreement between prosecutors and a public defender to release Francisco in February, Smith said. Smith said he did not recognize Francisco's name when probation contacted him.

Smith also said he was aware of the breaking-and-entering arrest. The probation office had conferred with Francisco's then-lawyer, John M. Cicilline, and the office told Smith that the case was going to be dismissed, Smith said. The case is still pending.

Smith has said Francisco's case was handled appropriately by the court and the probation office.

Rafael Mangual, a public policy analyst for the conservative Manhattan Institute, said that, based on Francisco's behavior after his release, there was likely a missed opportunity for an "incapacitation benefit" -- preventing him from committing more crimes by committing him to prison.

"All you hear about are second chances," Mangual said. "But we have to understand a large chunk of the pool we're talking about here have already had their second chances, and have already blown them."