BANGOR, Maine — A man with residences in Maine and Florida was arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court on drug and gun charges in connection with an alleged bath salts distribution ring.
Edwin Hamel, 48, of Milford and Hobe Sound, Florida, pleaded not guilty to one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intention to distribute controlled and analogue substances, importation of a controlled substance, possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Hamel, Harold R. Peters III, 37, of Bradford and Mark Wood, 55, of Old Town were indicted Dec. 18 by a federal grand jury. The men are accused of being part of a conspiracy to distribute Alpha PVP, a type of bath salts, in Maine between Jan. 1, 2012, and March 11, 2014.
Peters, who is being held at the Penobscot County Jail on state drug charges, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the same counts Hamel did.
Wood was indicted only on the conspiracy count. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was released on $5,000 unsecured bond.
Hamel was arrested in Florida on Dec. 19. He was released on $150,000 surety bond on the condition that he appear Wednesday in court in Maine. Bail conditions forbid him from returning to Florida.
The federal charges stemmed from a March 11 stop of Hamel and Peters
Peters and Hamel after they picked up a package of bath salts at the Bradford post office, according to court documents.
Investigators allegedly intercepted two 500-gram deliveries of bath salts intended for Hamel. Searches of Hamel’s phone records and e-mail showed that he order the drug, court documents said.
Five hundred grams is equal to slightly more than a pound of bath salts.
If convicted, all three face up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million on the drug conspiracy charge. Hamel and Peters face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.