PORTLAND, Maine — A local man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to seven years in federal prison for his role in a crack cocaine distribution ring, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
William Weston, 36, of Portland also was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
He pleaded guilty in October 2015 to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine base, according to a news release issued Thursday.
By pleading guilty, Weston admitted that he and other members of the conspiracy arranged for the acquisition of drugs out of state between December 2013 and January 2015, the release said.
Once the drugs were brought to Maine, they were provided to retail distributors who would sell the drugs in the Portland area, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers conducted controlled purchases of crack cocaine from Weston and other members of the conspiracy.
The case was, in part, the result of the ongoing efforts of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, or OCDETF, a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
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