BANGOR, Maine — A local man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to four months in prison for possessing cocaine in Acadia National Park in June and ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment when released.
Glenn G. Watson, 63, of Bangor pleaded guilty Aug. 28 to one count of possession of cocaine, a federal misdemeanor. He has been held without bail since then after being released on $1,000 unsecured bail two days after his arrest.
“I don’t think that more jail time is going to do me much good,” Watson told U.S. Magistrate John Nivison just prior to sentencing. “I need to get clean and sober. I’d like to get as much treatment as I can.”
In addition to jail time, Nivison sentenced Watson to one year of supervised release and ordered him to pay the mandatory minimum fine of $1,000 and $240 for the cost of prosecution. A condition of supervised release includes residential treatment for substance abuse.
Nivison said that he hoped treatment would give Watson the tools and incentive to maintain his sobriety.
Watson was arrested on June 24 in the Lakewood parking area of Acadia after Park Ranger Elliot Arsenault saw a large plume of smoke coming from a silver Ford Escort, according to the complaint.
Arsenault found marijuana in a compartment in the driver’s side door, cocaine in a plastic container in the front passenger compartment and $1,400 in cash in the car Watson had borrowed, the court document stated.
Watson has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1988, according to Bangor Daily News archives. He was arrested by Bangor police in April 2010, one week after he finished a 15-month prison term for cocaine trafficking. Watson told the judge Thursday that he was sober for about three years after treatment in 2010 and 2011, but relapsed earlier this year.
He faced up to a year in prison and a fine of between $1,000 and $100,000. Under the prevailing federal sentencing guidelines, Watson faced between four and 10 months in prison.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Lowell recommended that Watson spend a longer time behind bars than four months but did not suggest a specific number of months. Defense attorney Joseph Bethony of Bangor urged the judge to impose a sentence of time served and supervised release that would include treatment for substance abuse.
The time Watson has been in jail since he pleaded guilty will count toward his sentence.
BDN writer Nok-Noi Ricker contributed to this report.