FARMINGTON – A Rumford man pleaded guilty to trafficking in heroin Thursday, receiving an eight-year, partially-suspended sentence for his role in an alleged heroin distribution ring operating in western Maine.
Logan White, 28 of Rumford, pleaded guilty to the illegal importation of scheduled drugs, a Class C felony, and unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs, a Class B felony, in court Thursday. As part of the arranged plea three aggravated trafficking charges and a conspiracy charge were dismissed.
White was one of multiple individuals charged in conjunction with an April 26, 2016 vehicle search in Auburn, in which Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents executed a search warrant on a blue 2003 Volkswagen Jetta belonging to Lauren Leonard, 24, then of Industry, having previously confirmed via “surveillance and covert investigation” that the vehicle would be returning to Maine with a supply of heroin. MDEA agents and Maine State Police searched the vehicle after it returned to the state and pulled into an Auburn gas station. A total of 188 bags of heroin, each containing a single dose and totaling roughly 20 grams, was allegedly located in the vehicle.
According to the arrest affidavit, Leonard cooperated with MDEA agents and provided details about the alleged importation of heroin from Connecticut to Maine. White, also then of Industry, was Leonard’s boyfriend at that time and Leonard said that both individuals would use and sell heroin. White had been at the Industry residence, police believed, but had left after Leonard had indicated to him via text that she had been stopped by police.
White was located in a mobile home in Wilton the next day, April 27. He was transported to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office building and subsequently admitted to selling heroin and intending to sell the heroin allegedly brought into the state by Leonard. White reportedly admitted to selling heroin in the towns of Rumford, Peru, Dixfield, Farmington, Wilton, Industry and Madison, as well as using it himself.
White was sentenced to eight years on the trafficking charge, with all but 29 months of that sentence to be suspended. He was sentenced to two years on the illegal importation charge, concurrent to the trafficking sentence.
White also has an alleged probation violation pending out of Oxford County. The underlying drug-related conspiracy conviction out of that county resulted in White receiving a five-year, partially-suspended sentence. If a jail or prison sentence should result out of the Oxford County probation violation, that sentence would be served consecutively to the Franklin County trafficking sentence, not concurrently.
White will face three years of probation upon his release. He will be required to pay $360 restitution to the MDEA for tests, as well as a $400 fine.
So let me see if I have this straight. Mr. White was part of an alleged heroin distribution ring in Western Maine, importing this poison from Connecticut. As part of a plea deal four charges were dropped and he pled guilty to two despite the fact that he admitted to “to selling heroin in the towns of Rumford, Peru, Dixfield, Farmington, Wilton, Industry and Madison, as well as using it himself”. Sentenced to eight years on the trafficking charge with all suspended except 29 months. Sentenced to two years on illegal importation charge BUT/ it will run concurrently so in essence no time past the 29 months. Theoretically he could be out in less time because of good behavior.
I guess my question is, how do plea bargains and sentences this lenient curb the opiate epidemic? The same epidemic that led to LD 1646 “An Act To Prevent Opiate Abuse by Strengthening the Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program” becoming law? Where 33 Maine legislators voted yes, one voted no and one was excused. The same law that forces drug tapers on hard working Mainers who make a living in the woods, on the sea? Where prescribed opiates once allowed them to continue working and have some quality of life, they now suffer. Their crime? A life of hard work taking a toll on their bodies, perhaps a skidder or boating accident. But Maine is definitely curbing the opiate epidemic by making them suffer while making plea deals with traffickers who bring this garbage into our communities where it pollutes everything.
It is a sad fact that the good people who have been, and continue to use these drugs for the right reasons will be made to feel like the villain in this drama of the war on drugs. I am one of those people I have had several surgeries that have left me with chronic bouts of pain. I too wish for harsher sentences but I have to ask how are we going to pay for them, why not bring back prison work gangs and hard labor for the time they are in prison
Well here we go again. Add this turkey to the list of deacons in the church of what’s happening now.
Russell Smith no time to serve. https://dailybulldog.com/features/man-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-in-carthage-drug-case/
Anthony Smith one year to serve. https://dailybulldog.com/features/carthage-man-pleads-guilty-to-trafficking-in-heroin/
Jonathan Smith nine month to serve. http://www.sunjournal.com/news/oxford-hills/2017/05/24/mexico-man…/2136529
No teeth in justice for druggies. They all rat on each other to get suspended sentences
Agree with both comments. Yes there is an opiate epidemic but force tapering patients with genuine pain who have been honest and open with their providers is NOT the answer. The only thing this intrusion by the state accomplishes is causing Mainers to suffer. Some to the point where they no longer want to live. Seriously? Forcing people in pain to suffer to where they prefer death? Is this what our 33 elected legislators had in mind when they voted yes on this feckless bill, sponsored by District 10 Sen. Andre Cushing of Penobscot? Did they consider the harm it could do to their hard working constituents? And even though the law went into effect Jan 2017, a large medical center in a neighboring county was beginning forced tapers as early as March 2016. When I contacted them I was told “Our hands are tied” and “Contact your representative”. News flash; they don’t respond! And it’s not just to me but to at least a dozen people I know. Also I’ve attended several legislative hearings in Augusta and what DHHS says contradicts what some of the doctors are saying. Why? Meanwhile every week I read of these “slap on the hand” sentences given to the people that traffic in poison, many who are repeat offenders. Why? What makes the judicial system think this is acceptable? Instead legislators made a law that targets hard working honest people. They’re so concerned with curbing the opiate epidemic they even included veterinarians in the law. So if your dog has surgery and needs a mild pain medication, you have to provide ID and allow the veterinarian or a staff member to search your prescription drug record. They can search in a 5 year window too! And the PMP doesn’t say WHY a person is on a med, only that they are. And if the pet owner is at the top level, the vet can’t prescribe for your pet because it would put you, the owner, over the daily limit! And unlike human doctors or medical staff, the girl at a vet’s office isn’t bound by HIPAA. She could go home and tell her sister about a medication you’re on and it’s perfectly legal. Oh yes the vet is also required to report any red flags in your profile. Our health, our pets, our right to medical privacy all out the window but let’s plea deal with the real culprits, many who are repeat offenders. It’s so bad that many doctors won’t even prescribe a small amount of pain meds to a patient they know has a long, well documented painful condition. When is it going to stop? When are we going to be treated in a humane manner by both our doctors and our lawmakers? When are the courts going to step up to the plate and start handing out real sentences? Or do they honestly think the answer is to punish us instead?