BANGOR, Maine — Four more people, three of them from New York, have been arrested on federal drug charges in connection with an alleged cocaine and oxycodone distribution ring in the Waterville area in which 16 people have been indicted.
James “Reggie” Proudfoot, 32, Tyrone Pereira, 46, and Robin Brown, 54, all of New York City, were arrested Wednesday in that city. Dominic Collins, 21, of Skowhegan was arrested Tuesday in Maine.
Information about the circumstances surrounding the arrests was not available Wednesday on the federal court system’s electronic case filing system.
Two others who have been indicted but not identified remain at large.
Proudfoot, Brown and Collins were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone and 500 grams or more of cocaine. Brown also was charged with possession with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing oxycodone, while Collins was charged with possession with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing cocaine.
Pereira was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone and possession with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing oxycodone.
Collins pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the charges in U.S. District Court in Bangor. He was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.
Arraignment dates for the New Yorkers have not been set.
The following people were arrested earlier this month and have pleaded not guilty to drug charges: Maurice “Mo” McCray, 31, of Waterville and Farmington; Tara Pelletier, 31, of Waterville; Rodney Lacroix, 23, of Waterville; Justin Lacroix, 25, of Waterville; Jesse Jones, 24, of Waterville; Joshua Blodgett, 20, of Skowhegan; Saul Hernandez, 24, of Augusta; Patrick Hanson, 21, of Winslow; Brian Lemieux, 30, of Winslow; and Cassandra “Cassie” Ware, 22, of Farmington.
The Lacroixs are brothers, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
All of those previously arrested are charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and 500 grams or more of cocaine, the most serious charge. Five hundred grams equals 17.5 ounces, or more than a pound of cocaine.
McCray, Hernandez, Hanson, Jones and Justin Lacroix are being held without bail pending the outcome of their cases. The other defendants, like Collins, have been released on $5,000 unsecured bail.
If convicted of the conspiracy charge, each defendant faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Homeland Security Investigations, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Maine State Police, the police departments of Waterville, Augusta, Fairfield, Oakland and Skowhegan, and the Somerset and Kennebec county sheriff’s offices. The Kennebec and Somerset County district attorney’s offices and the Maine attorney general’s office also provided assistance in the investigation.
They must have been the folk’s living the high-life in the projects of NYC looking to earn an honest livin selling their trash here in Maine
Too bad there are plenty of customers here to buy the trash. This state has acquired a real bad drug problem. If you took away the drug issues people have, inject some personal responsibility, and accountability along with a little pride into people, can you imagine how different things would be. I know, I’m dreaming.
Well there isn’t much to do in a lot of Maine cities, people are also poor, unhappy, there is a lack of good mental & physical health care, and not enough good education. People seek getting high as a way to find bits of happiness. But all too often drugs don’t make them happy. Just addicted.
Tyrone and Proudfoot? Yup, diversified NY.
to bad this state has such a drug problem but the courts are alot to blame. When someone gets arrested they give them a deal if they squeal. If they would just leave them locked up the big ones would have to come out. I also don’t believe in the drug court. All that does is keep the druggies on the streets and they do it all over again. I have realitives that are drug addicts and I think the best thing the courts could do for them is keep them in jail and make them go cold turkey with the drug withdrawals. Then make them go through years of rehibilitation before they are aloud out
or legalize them and tax them,saves room in prison for the murders and sex pervs.and have money to balance the buget.
And go after the doctors getting rich by writing all these perscriptions. They need jail time also. Oxycodone has created a massive crime wave in Maine.
Everybody is affected as we become decimated by the social ills of drug abuse and yet nobody seems to think that a completely different approach is needed. Drug abuse is a public health problem. It has been defined as a criminality problem but that is just the frame we have chosen as a society.
If we spent half of what we spend on interdiction and law enforcement on education and treatment, we could actually turn the tide back. The war on drug has cost us over $2trillion since Nancy Reagan declared it a war, yet the numbers of lives ruined increases year on year and the trend is towards ever more destructive classes of drugs being abused.
Whether we know it or not, we are making a choice in keeping the status quo. IT doesn’t work and it costs huge fortunes to continue. Why keep doing what has proven itself to be a complete failure? WE are seeing too many deaths, too many lives ruined and too many jailed at a cost we cannot sustain. Maybe we can try the health approach instead of the law approach. Could we do any worse?
I have a friend that knows someone that just moved into a place on Essex St. in Bangor a few months back. Apparently the people that lived there were major drug dealers. And after he moved in he would get knocks on his door starting in the late afternoon and wouldn’t stop until 2am. He kept telling people that the prior tenants had moved. It’s only recently that people have stopped knocking on his door all night. They would ask for someone named Teek Or Teki & Hippie and someone called KJ. Sounds like aliases which further supports it once being a place drug dealers lived. A few of the neighbors said that there would be loud parties at night and lots of fighting. Anyway he says that the next time he moves into an apartment he’s going to try to do a background check as well as a police arrest check on the building and area. Apparently the 3 people that lived in that 1 bedroom apartment had just been arrested a month or two prior to his moving in according to the other tenants and neighbors.