SKOWHEGAN — A Canaan man who was caught in July with a large amount of fentanyl and other illegal drugs will serve eight years in prison as part of a plea agreement, officials said.
Garrett Joseph Cote Jr., 24, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for the most severe of several charges he faced: Class A aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, according to court records.
Four years of the sentence were suspended in lieu of probation, which means Cote is set to serve eight years in prison, followed by four years of probation.
Cote was also sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison for related charges from his July arrest, but that part of the sentence is to be served concurrently to the 12-year sentence for the most severe drug trafficking charge, according to court records.
He was also ordered to concurrently serve a six-month county jail sentence for a criminal mischief charge from an unrelated 2022 incident, court records show.
Cote pleaded guilty April 10 at Somerset County Unified Criminal Court in Skowhegan. One Class C count of unlawful possession of fentanyl powder and one Class E count of violating condition of release were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Cote was indicted by a Somerset County grand jury Dec. 15, 2023, on one count of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, three counts of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, one count of receiving stolen property and two counts of violation of condition of release.
According to affidavits filed in court by a Maine Drug Enforcement Agency officer and a Skowhegan police officer, police found 552.9 grams of fentanyl, 34.6 grams of cocaine and 1.6 grams of methamphetamine when they executed a search warrant July 19, 2023, at Cote’s home at 1548 Hill Road in Canaan. Police said they also seized more than $1,200 in cash.
Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose, which means that amount of the opioid drug is roughly equivalent to 276,000 lethal doses.
Police were led to the Canaan residence while investigating a report of stolen chain saws, according to the affidavits.
Cote and Rylee Spofford, then 19, were arrested during a traffic stop after investigators obtained evidence that the chain saws were at the home, according to the affidavits.
Police found the chain saws in the search later that day, along with suspected drugs. They returned to the residence to seize the drugs after obtaining another search warrant, court records show.
Before Cote was indicted, his defense lawyer filed a motion arguing that police violated Cote’s constitutional rights because the initial search warrant was only for the chain saws, not drugs, according to court records.
A district court judge rejected that argument, writing in a court order that police legally conducted the first search warrant.
Cote’s bail conditions from a previous conviction also required he submit to random searches for possession of illegal drugs or dangerous weapons, Judge Erika S. Bristol wrote.
Cote is now serving his prison sentence at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, according to state Department of Corrections’ online records.
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