ROCKLAND, Maine — A 39-year-old Warren man pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to drug trafficking as his jury trial was set to start.
The jury had been selected and jurors were waiting to come into the courtroom when Robert Colpritt changed his plea on the felony charge and admitted to trafficking in oxycodone.
Justice Daniel Billings accepted Colpritt’s plea and a recommended sentence of four years in prison with all but six months suspended. Sentencing was delayed until January, however. Under the plea agreement, Colpritt also is expected to be put on probation for two years upon his release from jail.
Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley said that Maine Drug Enforcement Agency officers were led to Colpritt last year while investigating a Massachusetts man suspected of dealing drugs in the midcoast area. MDEA agents obtained a search warrant for Colpritt’s home on Dec. 29 and seized 22 oxycodone pills.
Colpritt told the judge that the only reason he was accepting the plea deal was that he was afraid he would lose his home if he went to trial, was convicted and got a longer sentence.
Billings pointed out that the state had a strong case against Colpritt and that the defendant’s attorney Daniel Purdy got him a favorable plea agreement.