BANGOR, Maine — A New York man serving a three-year sentence for selling crack cocaine in Hancock County pleaded guilty Thursday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to arson and criminal threatening.
Oscar Nunez, 26, of Bronx, New York, admitted that in July 2012, he poured gasoline around an Orrington home and set it on fire after shots were fired at the house, endangering, but not injuring, its occupants. The house sustained minor damage from the fire, according to a previously published report.
A sentencing date is not expected to be set until after Nunez waives indictment and pleads guilty to a federal gun charge, his attorney Hunter Tzovarras said.
In a plea agreement with Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy, an attempted murder charge will be dismissed at sentencing. The deal calls for Almy to recommend a sentence of 24 years with all but 14 suspended. Tzovarras is expected to argue for less time to serve.
The charges in both counties stemmed from an investigation by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, according to a previously published report. Police found 66.1 grams of crack cocaine in Nunez’s Verona Island apartment.
The incident on July 22, 2012, at the home on Johnson Mill Road in Orrington stemmed from what Nunez believed was his former driver’s interference in the drug operation. The driver was not involved in the drug operation, Almy said Thursday. It was not determined who fired the gunshots.
Nunez faced up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.