A Waterville man who law enforcement officials said was a key player in a drug-trafficking ring that brought narcotics to central Maine from New York was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to more than 15 years in federal prison.
Maurice McCray, 34, of Waterville, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison for distribution of and conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and cocaine.
McCray pleaded guilty March 26, 2013, about a year after his arrest in a police raid on an alleged drug-trafficking operation along with 20 other people from Somerset and Kennebec counties and New York City on a variety of drug charges.
The sentence exceeded the federal mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
McCray was arrested in a sweep on an alleged drug operation in Kennebec and Somerset counties in March 2012 during which a score of arrests were made.
In pronouncing sentence, Judge John Woodcock called drug dealing ” a way of life and a business” for McCray and said the defendant had no “moral compass,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In affidavits used to obtain “no-knock” warrants for raids conducted in the drug sweep, McCray was identified as the supplier of hundreds of oxycodone pills to an Augusta man, court records revealed.
McCray was charged with obtaining 6,500 oxycodone tablets from New York City and transporting them to Waterville personally and through couriers. Investigators said the drugs were distributed in Kennebec and Somerset counties.
On Wednesday, a man who prosecutors said “worked closely” as a courier for McCray, William Waters, is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on charges of possessing oxycodone with intent to distribute. Waters pleaded guilty in March. Ebony Howard, who was arrested at the same time as Waters, was sentenced Monday to 22 months in prison for possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute.
The case was investigated by Maine State Police; police departments from Waterville, Augusta, Fairfield, Oakland, and Skowhegan; the Somerset and Kennebec County sheriff’s offices; the Kennebec and Somerset County District Attorney’s Office; the state attorney general’s office; the federal Drug Enforcement Administration; and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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