AUGUSTA — Two of 12 people arrested in a series of search warrants executed Dec. 20, 2016, in Augusta and were sentenced on drug-related charges Thursday at the Capital Judicial Center.
Kidante Roberts, 22, also known as KD, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit unlawful trafficking in drugs and agreed to the forfeiture of three firearms and $3,731 in cash seized that day.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley, said Roberts was arrested as part of a Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into a group of people coming from Massachusetts in November and December 2016 to sell heroin and cocaine, which was distributed from two houses in Augusta.
Roberts was arrested with several others at a local hotel, and Sibley said that agents found several thousand dollars there, some hidden in the ceiling, as well as drug ledgers and firearms.
She said Roberts’ role was to come up from Massachusetts and stay at the hotel, where he took phone orders for drugs and sent the buyers to one of the Augusta homes to complete the transaction.
Roberts’ defense attorney, Andrew Wright, said prosecutors had no direct evidence tying Roberts to the transactions except for statements by a cooperating co-defendant.
Roberts had no prior criminal record. Several charges of aggravated drug trafficking were dismissed in exchange for the plea.
In the other case, Jessie Clark, 34, of Augusta, pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in heroin that occurred Nov. 9, 2016, in Augusta.
Sibley said Clark sold a quarter-gram of heroin to a confidential informant in Augusta from one of the two houses being used to distribute drugs.
Clark was sentenced to an initial nine months in jail, to be served through the Criminogenic Addiction Recovery Academy, a program aimed at helping people break the cycle of rearrest by dealing with their substance abuse and criminal thinking. The remainder of the four-year prison term was suspended while she serves two years of probation.
She was represented by attorney Elizabeth Gray.
Fowle told Clark that CARA is a good program and offered extensive follow-up for those who complete it. “I think the CARA program can give you the tools that you need and the guidance you need,” he told her.
She told the judge she understood the various requirements of the program, adding, “I appreciate that a lot.”
Fowle suspended half of the $400 fine.
A charge of aggravated trafficking in heroin against Clark was dismissed in exchange for the plea.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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