LINCOLN, Maine — A local man convicted in 2002 of operating a methamphetamine lab in his West Broadway home was sentenced to five days in jail after police said they found him in possession of bath salts early Friday and he later admitted it in court.
Joseph P. Mansur, 55, began serving his sentence at Penobscot County Jail after an appearance at Penobscot Judicial Center on Friday, a jail spokesman said.
Mansur was arrested and charged with possession of a synthetic hallucinogenic and violation of his conditions of release at 12:37 a.m. Friday after Lincoln police Sgt. Glenn Graef searched Mansur’s West Broadway apartment, Police Chief William Lawrence said.
The drug possession charge qualifies as a Class D misdemeanor, which can bring a sentence of up to a year in jail and fine of up to $2,000.
Mansur also received a concurrent two-day jail sentence for violating conditions of release and was fined $400.
Graef said he saw Mansur walking into his apartment. Aware that Mansur’s bail conditions legally permitted searches of Mansur and his residence at any time, Graef found two syringes, two small glass bottles and two baggies containing a white powder residue, Lawrence said.
Police tested liquid in the bottles, Lawrence said, and found that it was bath salts, an illegal hallucinogenic synthetic drug available as a powder or liquid that can cause agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, chest pains and heart attacks in its victims.
Graef last arrested Mansur in October during a motor vehicle stop for speeding on River Road, which led to police finding slightly more than $10,000 worth of cocaine, bath salts and other drugs in his car and home.
At that time Mansur was charged with four counts of aggravated furnishing of drugs, including hallucinogenic drugs (bath salts) and schedule W, Y and Z drugs; unlawful possession of an unscheduled drug, methamphetamine; and unlawful possession of cocaine.
In the October incident, Graef said he found a small amount of oxycodone pills and marijuana in the car, plus 60 grams of cocaine and other drugs that he said Mansur tried to hide in the back seat of the police cruiser.
Graef and Officers Jacob Ferland, Jeffrey Rice and John Walsh later found 5.3 ounces of marijuana, 4.1 grams of illegal narcotics fashioned from mushrooms, 30 milligrams of Ritalin, 17.1 grams of bath salts, methamphetamine and more than $884 in cash in Mansur’s home, Lawrence said.
Prosecutors dismissed counts of unlawful possession of oxycodone and unlawful possession of a scheduled drug in December in connection with the October arrest, but several of the other October charges against Mansur are still pending, Lawrence said.
Mansur was sentenced to a suspended six-year prison sentence and served two years in prison and four years of probation in April 2002 after Maine and federal drug enforcement agents raided his home in March 2001 and found evidence of a methamphetamine manufacturing operation.
Apparently the cops keep catching this scumbag, and the judges keep sending him home.
Nice gig.
Don’t ya just love lawyers?
You know how it goes, arrest them, fine them and set them free, each arrest generates another fine which generates more money for the state. Keep him in jail you lose the fine money and then pick up the cost of housing him!
does anyone think this man could be dangerous to the public in general…..i mean…. it seems the judges and the police and the d.a.’s must not think so lets see what happens this time
This is another example of the dire need for bail reform. Something like this should result in his release agreement being revoked and appropriate cash bail amount being set to replace it. He only got 5 days in jail. I hope he gets a nice welcome home party.