AUGUSTA — One of eight people arrested in Vassalboro 13 months ago after a drug raid pleaded guilty Thursday to one charge of unlawful furnishing of cocaine base and was placed on deferred disposition for a year.
Jocelyn Jones, 29, of Bingham Forks and formerly of South China, had been indicted on two charges of aggravated trafficking in cocaine base and one charge each of unlawful trafficking in cocaine base and unlawful trafficking in heroin, all dated Jan. 29, 2016.
That was the day officers with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency raided a home on Whitehouse Road in Vassalboro.
Those charges were dismissed in exchange for the plea.
The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley, told the judge Thursday at the Capital Judicial Center that Jones had been found in the back bedroom with 2 grams of cocaine base concealed on her person.
During the raid, agents reported seizing 28 grams of heroin, 65 grams of crack or cocaine base, 25 grams of powdered cocaine, 15 grams of methamphetamine, 12 grams of psilocybin mushrooms and $2,000 in cash believed to be connected to drug sales, according to a news release.
Sibley said Jones was not among those people whom the agents had been watching.
She said Jones had been working on substance abuse problems for the past nine months and that a sponsor and her parents had been helping to keep an eye on her.
Conditions of her deferred disposition require her to continue that. For the next year, Jones is to remain free on $1,000 cash bail and subject to a ban on possession of alcohol and illegal drugs.
If she succeeds with the conditions and stays out of criminal trouble, she will be permitted to withdraw the guilty plea to the felony and instead plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possession of cocaine base. She would be sentenced to the four months in jail she already has served and fined $400.
If Jones is unsuccessful, a judge will sentence her on the felony charge, which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.
Jones was represented by attorney Pasquale “Pat” Perrino, who said she has no prior criminal record.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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