BANGOR, Maine — Both women sentenced this week in federal court for their roles in a local bath salts distribution ring were raised in loving middle-class families. Both began abusing alcohol and drugs as teenagers and dropped out of high school. Both have given their children to their parents to raise.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock observed at their separate sentencings that their cases illustrate the devastating effect drugs are having on the lives of young adults and their families in Maine.
Elizabeth Mikotowicz, 27, of Bangor was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 37 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Gina Nelson, 32, of Bradley was sentenced Wednesday in the same courtroom to six years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Both women pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute MDPV, a chemical compound commonly referred to as “bath salts” or “monkey dust.” The conspiracy operated between April 2011 and December 2011, according to court documents. The defendants were arrested in August 2013.
The drug is known to cause paranoia, convulsions and psychotic behavior in users.
Mikotowicz and Nelson are two of 18 people who have pleaded guilty to illegally distributing the drug in Greater Bangor.
Nelson’s sentence was longer than Mikotowicz’s because of her more serious criminal history, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Nelson also was found to be responsible for distributing more of the drug than Mikotowicz was.
Mikotowicz told Woodcock that it was while she was being held at the Penobscot County Jail while her case was pending that she realized the huge toll drugs were taking on her generation.
“I was talking with another inmate, and between the two of us, we knew 20 couples who had lost their kids due to drug use,” she told the judge. “I felt responsible for what had happened to those kids.”
Nelson told Woodcock: “I stand before you a humbled woman, your honor.”
“I apologize to all who were hurt by my involvement in this conspiracy,” she said.
When the conspiracy began, Mikotowicz was the girlfriend of Ryan Ellis, 34, of Greenbush, the admitted kingpin of the conspiracy. Nelson was the girlfriend of Alan Ketchen, 42, of Bangor. Ketchen was Ellis’ right-hand man, according to court documents.
Both men have pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge the women did. They are being held without bail awaiting sentencing.
Nelson and Mikotowicz told Woodcock at their sentencings that being arrested probably saved their lives.
All defendants in the case face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.