ROCKLAND, Maine — A Thomaston husband and wife were sentenced Friday for their role in heroin distribution in Knox County.
Sarah R. Stalcup, 32, was sentenced to four years in jail with all but nine months suspended for trafficking in heroin. Justice Jeffrey Hjelm in Knox County Superior Court also ordered her placed on probation for two years when she gets out.
Her husband, Christopher Stalcup, 43, pleaded guilty to a felony possession of heroin charge through a deferred disposition. If he refrains from criminal conduct and performs 50 hours of community service over the next six months, the charge will be reduced a misdemeanor possession charge and he will be fined $750.
Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley said that the Stalcups were charged as a result of an investigation in May 2013 by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency into heroin being sold in Knox County. An affidavit filed in court by the MDEA last year stated that a confidential informant working for the agency was purchasing heroin from a Rockland man who was getting the drugs at the Stalcup residence.
Following two buys monitored by the MDEA, agents got a search warrant and searched the couple’s home. Sibley said agents found a small amount of heroin packaged for sale and evidence of drug use by the couple.
She said both Stalcups were very cooperative from the beginning. Christopher Stalcup had no criminal record prior to the May 2013 search. He also has since participated in an intensive outpatient treatment program, his attorney Eric “Rick” Morse said in court on Friday.
Sarah Stalcup had prior convictions including a theft and, in 2004, a felony importation of drugs offense. Sibley said that Sarah Stalcup was an addict who was largely selling to feed her addiction.
The wife also underwent an intensive outpatient treatment program and completed methadone treatment because she did not want to be a slave to any drugs anymore, said Morse, who also represented Sarah Stalcup.
The attorney told the court he was hopeful that she could be a candidate for a home monitoring program rather than spend the nine months in jail.
Justice Hjelm accepted the sentence agreement worked out between the defense and prosecution but commented that the nine months was on the low side and bordered on inappropriately lenient, particularly because of her prior felony drug conviction. Hjelm, however, said she has taken the steps since last year to address her addiction.
The decision about home monitoring will be up to officials with the county jail and Maine Pre-Trial Services.