PORTLAND, Maine — A Connecticut man who admitted to bringing crack cocaine to Maine was sentenced Monday to more than five years in prison.
John Greaves, 30, of Norwich, Connecticut came to Maine earlier this year to fish for elvers in Calais, according to court documents.
After a few weeks in Maine, Greaves went back to Connecticut to visit his girlfriend, court documents said. The people he was staying with in Washington County, who are not identified in the documents, asked him to pick up some crack cocaine on his way back to Calais. Greaves was arrested March 27 after picking up the drug in Portland by a Maine State Police trooper.
He was stopped for making an improper passing maneuver and police discovered he was driving with a suspended license, court documents said. He was taken to the Kennebec County Jail where nearly 1½ ounces of crack cocaine was found during a routine intake search.
Initially charged in state court, Greaves was indicted in April by a federal grand jury in Portland. The state charge has been dismissed.
He pleaded guilty in July to one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base.
Greaves was sentenced to five years and four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to information posted on the court’s electronic case filing system.
He faced up to 20 years in federal and a fine of up to federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Under the prevailing federal sentencing guidelines, Greaves faced between 57 and 71 months in prison.