A judge Tuesday set bail at $75,000 cash for a Bangor man arrested over the weekend on drug and gun charges after a man died in the hallway outside his Center Street apartment.
Ralph A. Tripp Jr., 37, is charged with two counts of aggravated drug trafficking, both Class A crimes, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, a Class C crime.
Tripp appeared in court remotely from the Penobscot County Jail before Superior Court Justice Ann Murray. He has been held at the jail since his arrest on Saturday.
He was not asked to enter pleas to the charges as he has not yet been indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury. The grand jury is next scheduled to convene on April 28.
Tripp told the judge that he could not post such a high cash bail.
Assistant Attorney General Jason Horn, who is prosecuting the case, sought the high bail based on Tripp’s long criminal history, the amount of crack cocaine and methamphetamine seized and the suspected overdose death of the man outside his apartment.
Horn estimated the street value of the drugs to be between $10,000 and $17,500. The prosecutor also said that he expected a third count of aggravated drug trafficking to be lodged once the Chief Medical Examiner’s office has completed toxicology tests and determined the cause of death of the man found in the hallway.
Bangor police have not released the name of the man who died Saturday but said Sunday that he was in his 30s.
In an unrelated case, Tripp pleaded guilty Tuesday to two misdemeanor charges, misuse of public benefits and receiving stolen property. Tripp admitted to using an EBT card that a friend had stolen from another individual to purchase $145 in food.
His plea agreement with the Penobscot County District Attorney’s office calls for him to be sentenced to 48 hours in jail, which he’s already served, and ordered to pay $145 in restitution. He is set to be sentenced on those charges in August.
If convicted on the Class A drug charges, Tripp faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on the gun charge if convicted.