Maine law enforcement officers, town officials, prosecutor charged in $13 million pot conspiracy - NewsCenterMaine.com WCSH-WLBZ
FARMINGTON, Maine — Editor's note: The above video aired July 21, 2020, when the Farmington cannabis businesses were undergoing federal investigation.
A man from Farmington pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of conspiring to possess and distribute large amounts of marijuana.
According to court documents, Randal Cousineau was the primary financier and 50% partner in an illegal marijuana cultivation facility in Farmington. Cousineau faces up to life in prison and a $10 million fine.
Others alleged to have been part of the conspiracy include two former Franklin County Deputy Sheriffs, a Wilton police officer, a Franklin County Assistant District Attorney, and a former Oxford County deputy sheriff, now Dixfield Town Manager.
According to the criminal complaint, then Franklin County Deputy Sheriffs Bradley Scovil of Rangeley and Derick Doucette of Jay used confidential law enforcement information to benefit Lucas Sirois, of Farmington, the alleged leader of the criminal enterprise. Scovil and Doucette reportedly received cars and ownership interests for their cooperation. The two former deputy sheriffs are also accused of using their network of active law enforcement officials to gather information about an active federal investigation into Sirois’s illegal operations.
Wilton police officer Kevin Lemay of Farmington and then Oxford County deputy sheriff, now Dixfield town manager, James McLamb, are said to have used government databases to confirm that Scovil and Doucette were under surveillance and Franklin county Assistant District Attorney, Kayla Alves is accused of sharing this information with Scovil. Court documents allege that all three destroyed electronic evidence of their criminal activity in an attempt to hide it from investigators.
Rangeley Selectman David Burgess is accused of taking tens of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for advocating on Sirois’s behalf in town government meetings. Burgess allegedly voted to advance a marijuana ordinance that Sirous drafted himself to a town referendum. Additionally, court documents also claim that Burgess was paid thousands of dollars a week to manage Sirois’s pot business and never publicly disclosed the conflict of interest.
12 people named in the complaint are scheduled to appear in federal court in Bangor over the next few days.
source: https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/crime/maine-law-enforcement-officers-town-officials-prosecutor-charged-in-13-million-pot-conspiracy/97-06c82403-1a1c-4a6e-ae30-1ede43d9da8e
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