A Waterville man was sentenced on drug and theft charges Thursday for selling heroin and fentanyl to a confidential informant working with Waterville police last year and stealing a video game system from Walmart in 2017.
William T. Cyrus II, 35, was sentenced to 220 days in the Kennebec County jail on the felony theft by deception charge. He has previous theft charges on his record, Judge Rae Ann French noted.
The theft by deception charge he was sentenced for Thursday was from a November 2017 incident in which he removed the UPC price tag from an item in the lawn and garden section of Walmart in Waterville and put that tag over the price tag of the video game system, which was more expensive than the other item. He then, a Walmart loss prevention specialist told police, took the video game system to the register and paid the price listed on the tag he had surreptitiously placed on it from the other item, according to the state prosecutor.
The drug charges stem from Cyrus selling heroin on March 29, 2018, and a mix of heroin and fentanyl on March 30, 2018, from his Drummond Avenue residence to a confidential informant working with Waterville police, who bought $80 worth of drugs each time.
Four other drug charges were dismissed.
Cyrus was sentenced to a one-year deferred disposition on the drug charges, meaning that if he follows a strict set of conditions for the next year, in one year the charge would be reduced from a class C to a class D crime, and the 364-day sentence would be suspended, meaning he wouldn’t have to go to jail on the charges.
Conditions include refraining from any other criminal conduct, not using or possessing illegal drugs, submitting to random searches by law enforcement officers, and completing the Co-Occurring Disorders Court, a program designed to aid offenders dealing with mental illness and substance abuse problems.
If he fails to meet those conditions, French warned, he would be sentenced to two-and-a-half years on the unlawful drug trafficking charges.
Cyrus also was sentenced to 180 days in jail on a charge of violating a condition of release, for contacting a co-defendant in violation of bail conditions. That time will be served concurrently with his 220-day theft sentence.
Asked if he understood the charges and whether he was pleading guilty because he had been pressured to do so, or because he was in fact guilty, Cyrus told French “In fact I am guilty, your honor.”
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
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