WARREN, Maine — A former state prisoner made his initial court appearance Friday on a charge of participating in a drug smuggling ring that involved at least seven people inside and outside the facility.
Justice Daniel Billings set bail at $7,500 cash for Edward Robinson, 33, of South Gardiner during a brief hearing in Rockland District Court. Robinson is charged with trafficking in drugs and conspiracy to traffic in drugs.
He remained at the Knox County Jail late Friday. One of the conditions of bail is that he have no contact, if released, from six other individuals named in court papers as potential co-defendants. No other people have been charged yet.
An affidavit filed by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency in court stated that the investigation began Aug. 25, when agents seized a package containing 40 Suboxone strips. The package had been mailed by a man from Connecticut and was being sent to a woman in midcoast Maine.
The woman had been instructed to mail the package — with the Suboxone hidden in a greeting card — to an inmate at the prison. Robinson was described in court papers as being one of two prisoners who were the “muscle” for the smuggling operation inside the prison.
On Nov. 7, MDEA and the U.S. Postal Service intercepted a package from the same Connecticut man to a different woman in Topsham. There were 40 suboxone strips in that package, also, with instructions to deliver them to another prisoner involved in the smuggling operation.
Robinson questioned in court Friday why he was being charged now, because he had been released from the prison on Dec. 12. The criminal complaint filed by the prosecution stated the conspiracy had been in operation from Aug. 25 through Nov. 7.