A man from the Dominican Republic was found guilty in federal court Wednesday related to an illegal drug trafficking operation run out of his Waterville apartment that involved narcotics worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to officials.
Victor Soto Sanchez Waterville Police Department photo
Following a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Victor Soto Sanchez, 39, was convicted of possessing fentanyl and cocaine with the intent to distribute.
Soto Sanchez faces at least 10 years in prison, with maximum penalties of life in prison and a $10 million fine, followed by five years of supervised released, according to information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.
The Waterville Police Department received information in November 2021 about a large-scale drug trafficker selling cocaine and fentanyl out of his apartment, according to evidence presented during the trial.
The tip resulted in a three-week drug investigation, which also involved Homeland Security officials; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Maine State Police. The investigation culminated with police executing a search warrant at Soto Sanchez’s apartment and arresting him on felony drug charges.
Officials found about 5 pounds of fentanyl in pill and powder form, nearly 5 pounds of cocaine, more than $5,000 in cash and several firearms, according to the statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maine. The street value of the drugs seized was estimated at more than $400,000.
Police, who originally estimated the drugs to be worth about $780,000, had initially called the drug seizure the largest in the city’s history.
Soto Sanchez is from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and was found to be in the country illegally, police said at the time of his arrest.
He is to be sentenced by a federal district judge after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
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