AUGUSTA — An Augusta woman has pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated drug trafficking following her arrest last February in Waterville, according to documents filed at the Capital Judicial Center.
During a hearing Thursday, Meaghan K. Strickland, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated drug trafficking in connection with the Feb. 10 bust, according to the documents. During that bust, police said, they found a loaded firearm and $60,000 worth of cocaine and heroin at the College Street apartment complex where Strickland had been living.
This week prosecutors dismissed two other counts of aggravated drug trafficking that were originally filed against Strickland.
Strickland was sentenced to a minimum of five years of incarceration, out of a total sentence of 12 years.
She pleaded guilty to additional charges of illegal possession of a firearm, falsifying physical evidence and violating conditions of release, according to the documents.
She’ll also serve four years of probation, with conditions that include receiving substance abuse treatment, not possessing a firearm and being subject to random tests for alcohol and drugs. She also won’t be allowed to have any contact with a man who was arrested during the bust, Jai E. Lebron, 37, of Dixfield.
Lebron, who had his own hearing Thursday, pleaded guilty to charges of illegal possession of a firearm and falsifying evidence, and he was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Prosecutors withdrew all three counts of aggravated drug trafficking originally filed against Lebron, according to a court document.
Last February, police searched the apartment complex on College Avenue as part of a weekslong investigation into counterfeit bills that had been circulating in the area, they told the Morning Sentinel at the time.
As they knocked on the door of the apartment, police said, they also surrounded the complex and saw drugs and a loaded .32-caliber handgun being dumped out of Strickland’s window. Combined with other drugs found in the apartment, the load included 146 grams of powdered cocaine, 25.5 grams of crack cocaine and 68 grams of heroin, police said.
Charles Eichacker — 621-5642
Twitter: @ceichacker
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