PORTLAND, Maine — A Sanford man arrested in October by local police and charged with multiple offenses, including trafficking in the opioid painkiller fentanyl, pleaded not guilty Friday to a federal drug charge in U.S. District Court.
Jesse Roy, 35, was held without bail pending a detention hearing on Wednesday, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin M. Block.
Roy was arrested alone in a vehicle outside his Sanford home in October. Police said at the time a search of the vehicle unearthed 94 grams of fentanyl, an opioid painkiller 50 times more powerful than heroin, as well as $24,000 in cash and a semi-automatic firearm.
Roy was held on $50,000 bail at the York County Jail until he was arrested there Thursday by U.S. marshals after on a warrant charging him with the federal crime of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Block said factors, such as the “significant quantity” of fentanyl Roy was allegedly found with, as well as a prior drug conviction, prompted the charges to be transferred to federal court.
Roy faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million if convicted of the Class C felony, or 30 years in prison and a $2 million fine if the prior drug conviction is factored into sentencing.
Block declined to comment Friday on Roy’s criminal history.