BANGOR, Maine — The Clinton man who robbed a Newport pharmacy last year and turned himself in to the police the next day was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to nearly six years in federal prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
In addition to the 71 months of prison time, James J. Senior, 40, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, a press release said.
Senior pleaded guilty in June 2015 to one count of interference with commerce.
He also was ordered to pay $82 in restitution, the wholesale price of the drugs.
By pleading guilty, Senior admitted that about 3:45 p.m. March 31, 2015, he went into the Rite Aid in Newport and gave pharmacy employees a note demanding oxycodone.
“The note threatened that the employees would be harmed if they did not comply,” the prosecution version of events to which he pleaded guilty said.
The pharmacist gave Senior three bottles that contained oxycodone and hydrocodone-ibuprofen pills, the documents said. When he turned himself in to Waterville police, Senior said he kept the oxycodone pills and threw away the others.
Officers found three discarded pill bottles near the Interstate 95 southbound on-ramp, a short distance from the pharmacy, according to court documents.
“In imposing the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Woodcock noted the defendant’s ‘horrendous’ criminal history involving 17 convictions — including felony drug trafficking and felony assault and battery convictions — and the ‘chilling’ nature of the robbery,” the press release said.
Senior had been held without bail since April 1, 2015.
He faced up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.