BANGOR, Maine — Five local residents were arrested Thursday and charged separately with violating federal drug laws.
The four men and one woman made their first court appearances Friday in U.S. District Court in Bangor before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Nivison.
The suspects and charges are: Syrian “Del” Baldwin, 29, two counts of distribution of cocaine base; Antonio “Tone” Gordon, 32, three counts of distribution of cocaine base; Tawana “T” Greene, aka Tawana Smith, 23, two counts of distribution of cocaine base; Kliton Xhemali, 34, two counts of distribution of cocaine; and Mario “Mo” Lee, 40, four counts of distribution of heroin.
Information about the times and places of their arrests was not included in court documents.
The charges are the result of a yearlong joint investigation by members of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bangor Police Department into the activities of drug trafficking organizations operating in the Bangor area, according to a press release issued Friday by the U.S. attorney’s office.
“These arrests demonstrate the strength and continued commitment of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to work together to address a continuing drug problem in the Bangor area,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson said in the release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Casey has asked that all be held without bail pending the resolution of their cases. Detention hearings for the quintet to determine if they will be released on bail are scheduled to be held next week. Documents do not indicate where each is being held.
The prosecutor declined to say Friday whether or how the cases may be connected.
Complaints filed in each case describe the use of confidential sources to purchase drugs from each defendant between September 2014 and July 2015.
At least one of the defendants has a criminal history in Maine, according to information previously published by the Bangor Daily News.
Gordon pleaded guilty in September 2014 at the Penobscot Judicial Center to one count of domestic violence assault criminal threatening. In a plea agreement with the Penobscot County district attorney’s office, two other counts of obstructing the report of a crime and cruelty to animals were dismissed.
He was sentenced to 40 days in jail. Gordon was accused of threatening a woman with whom he was arguing on July 2014, according to a previously published report. After the woman barricaded herself in a bedroom, Gordon allegedly picked up her dog, which was barking at him, attempted to strangle it with his hand, then, punched the animal in the face as it began to yelp before he threw it over a balcony to the ground below. The dog was not seriously injured because it landed in a dense bush, which broke its fall.
In an unrelated incident, Gordon pleaded guilty in June 2015 to one count each of illegal possession of oxycodone, falsification of physical evidence and violation of a condition of release. He was sentenced to two years with all but 30 days suspended and two years of probation. Gordon also was ordered to pay a $400 fine.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in federal prison and fines of up to $1 million.