BANGOR, Maine — Two men were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court for their roles in a drug distribution ring that in 2011 flooded the Queen City with bath salts.
Jacob Gagnon, 26, of Van Buren was sentenced Monday morning in U.S. District Court to six years and three months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
Gagnon pleaded guilty in June 2014 to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute MDPV, a synthetic hallucinogen commonly called “bath salts” or “monkeydust.” He has been held without bail since then.
Alan Ketchen, 43, of Bangor was sentenced Monday afternoon to 13 years and four months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
Ketchen, who has been held without bail since his arrest in August 2013, pleaded guilty in May 2014 to the same drug conspiracy charge Gagnon did and one count of using or maintaining a drug-involved place. Ketchen unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, which delayed the sentencings of Gagnon and Ellis, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The time both men have been incarcerated while awaiting the resolutions of their cases will be applied to their sentences.
In sentencing Gagnon and Ketchen, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock described the men as “major figures in a significant bath salts distribution ring.”
The drug is known to cause paranoia, convulsions and psychotic behavior in users.
“Bath salts addicts came as a shock to the Bangor community [in 2011],” Woodcock said. “People using this drug behaved in ways law enforcement and emergency personnel had never seen. The bath salts epidemic sent a chill down the spine of the Bangor area. People began to wonder what kind of community Bangor had become.”
Gagnon, who also sold marijuana, heroin and oxycodone, sold primarily bath salts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Casey told Woodcock.
“At a minimum, that amount was 22,000 ingestion events,” the federal prosecutor said. “In a relatively small community like Bangor, that amount of MDPV can wreak havoc on a community.”
The amount of the drug sold by Ketchen eclipsed that amount nearly 20 fold, Casey said. The prosecutor estimated Ketchen alone distributed 39,000 doses of the drug.
“That is more than one dose for every man, woman and child in Bangor,” Woodcock said in sentencing Ketchen.
Casey recommended Gagnon serve seven years and three months behind bars and that Ketchen serve 15 years and eight months in prison.
Gagnon’s attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor, urged the court to impose a sentence of five years. Ronald Bourget of Augusta, who represented Ketchen, urged the judge to impose a seven-year sentence.
Woodcock said that Ketchen’s sentence was significantly longer than others involved in the conspiracy because he had a leadership role in the drug distribution ring, his home was a major storage and distribution spot for the drugs, and he at no point removed himself from the group.
Gagnon moved to Van Buren in 2012 to live with relatives, about eight of whom sat behind him at sentencing, and became clean and sober, he told Woodcock. He was attending Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle before he was indicted by the federal grand jury in June 2013 and while on bail the following year.
He and Ketchen apologized Monday for the impact their sale of bath salts had on the community.
“There is no handbook on how to atone with the community,” Gagnon said. “I will think about that while in prison.”
Ketchen told Woodcock, “I’m so, so sorry for giving people poison that impacted their lives.”
One other person indicted with Gagnon and Ketchen remains to be sentenced.
Ringleader Ryan Ellis, 36, of Greenbush and Dover-Foxcroft is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday morning.
Ellis faces the most severe penalty because he pleaded guilty to a gun charge in addition to the drug conspiracy charge. The firearms conviction carries a mandatory sentence of between five years and life on top of the drug sentence.
Eleven of the 14 involved in the drug ring have been sentenced, receiving penalties varying from time served to 8½ years.
Two women, Tina Keaton, 34, and Elizabeth Mikotowicz, 30, both of Bangor, have served their sentences and been released.
Michael Tardiff, 56, of Old Town is serving an 11-month sentence in Pennsylvania for violating his supervised release. His son, Matthew Tardiff, 29, of Old Town, is incarcerated in New Jersey.
The following co-defendants are serving sentences in the following states: Jamie Lewis, 41, of Bangor in Connecticut; Steven Orosco, 26, of Orrington in New Jersey; Adam Hathorn, 38, of Bangor in Massachusetts; Jessica Bryden, 23, of Greenbush in West Virginia; Daniel Hines, 40, of Orrington in New Jersey; April Kane, 31, of Gorham in West Virginia; and Gina Nelson, 33, of Bradley in Florida.